Heart of a Ninja
by pa0lini
Summary: He returns after being left for dead. Raised by Tsunade, Naruto had more powers and knowledge than ever. The Kyuubi, his friend and guardian. His agenda as mysterious as he is. New allies made, more enemies confirmed. When those who hurt him once before cause him to lose what is most precious to him, what will he do?
1. Prolouge

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS!!! i wish i did tho.....

Hey y'all, this is pa0lini! not really, just my role model author lol. Anyway this is my very first fanfic ever so R/R would be very much appreciated! planning on being a fairly long story, dont know yet if im gonna put any pairings up. suggestions are welcome! rated M for graphic fight scenes and torture scenes to be seen later on in the story. Not gonna talk anymore, coz im distracting u from the story. Thanx 4 reading!! =]

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Pain. It was all he could feel. It was all he could think. It consumed him completely. The hateful glares of the villagers stood by watching as the children continued to kick him. The boy was lying in the middle of the street, curled tightly in a ball protecting his head with his hands. He could hear their jeers and taunts as they encouraged the youths in their daily beatings of the boy.

"Why?" was a thought that echoed in the depths of his mind that broke through the haze of pain. "Why do they do this to me? WHY ME?!" As these thoughts continued to circle through his head, a low growling could be heard by the hateful crowd. They paused, listening to the noise with a growing fear. The children stopped their thrashing of the child as their parents and guardians drew them away from him. The growling slowly gained in volume. One of the braver villagers drew a kunai knife and threw it at the boy. As it pierced through the flesh of his leg, the growling suddenly changed from the low growl to a cry of pain.

"Ha! See the boy is a demon! How else can he growl so at mere children?!" cried the villager who threw the kunai. His cry was answered with cheers as the mob circled closer to the boy. Many drew knives and swords while others grabbed near-by rocks and sticks to further torture the child.

As they collected their new weapons the boy raised his head. His golden spiky locks were stained with blood and dirt. His piercing blue eyes were dull as they surveyed the crowd. Three lines marked each of his cheeks giving the impression of whiskers. His 3 year old body screamed in protest against the small movement. He had a moment of dread before a stick whipped his face down, drawing blood from his cheek.

"How dare you raise your head?! Know your place demon!! You should have died the night you were born! Your filthy presence taints our town and today is the day we shall finally cleanse that stain" screamed the man who had hit him. Many others joined him with their taunts and insults. None were very different from the original

"Monster!"

"Demon!"

"Devil!"

"Just die!"

As their insults continued to ring in his ears, their blows rained down as hard as any storm. Through the pain and fear the boy thought desperately, "Someone, help! Help me! Please, someone...SAVE ME!!" But he knew no one would come. No one ever came. No one loved him. No one cared for him. No one even liked him! All anyone ever did was hate or pity him. And the only people who pitied him were the Old Man and Iruka. But they could do nothing; they were powerless to stop these vicious rituals.

The mob continued with their entertainment long into the night, only leaving when he finally lost consciousness. Little did they know the boy was still awake. He never fell unconscious during these beatings. There was always something that kept him there, forced him to endure the torture of the villagers. He felt a wave of sorrow and guilt from the dark recesses of his mind after this thought. The boy waved it away like he always did, not caring where it came from or why it cared. He stayed motionless for what seemed an eternity to make sure the entire mob had gone and none stayed to give him a nice wake-up call. The blonde boy got up slowly, wincing as his wounds stretched and blood flowed freely down his body. As he tried to stand up he realized both his legs were broken in several places as well as numerous ribs and other bones. He could feel tears gathering in his eyes that threatened to drown him. Only the fear of someone hearing and finding him kept the tears at bay. So he simply laid there and waited. Waited for what always happened, waited for his body to heal.

It was a few moments before he could feel the usual fire and warmth that came with the healing. It was why he could take the beatings everyday and not have his body destroyed before the next round with the villagers. He almost smiled as the warmth enveloped him and his wounds began to heal, but he didn't. He hadn't smiled for as long as he can remember. As his limbs slowly fixed themselves, the boy's thoughts turned to the village, the Land of Fire's shinobi village: The Hidden Leaf. No matter how much they beat him, insulted him and tortured him in every sense of the word, he couldn't bring himself to hate the village. Instead it was the shinobi that were the focus of his rage. They were the ones that always started the beatings. The ones with the masks were the worst, they could find him no matter where he hid and brought him to a crowded place so more pain could be felt. The villagers were just ignorant.

He felt the last of his wounds heal and the warmth fade away, with a sigh the boy got to his feet and began the trek home. This time the ninja had brought him to the other side of the village. The boy kept to the alley ways and shadows of buildings to avoid detection. If he were to ever go for his ninja hitai-ate he would pass the stealth part with flying colours! Not that they would even consider him a ninja. Another sigh left him as he passed the gates that marked the village entrance; a sudden silence was all the warning he had before a sharp pain penetrated his back, thrusting him forward into the ground. He lay there for a moment dazed before he sat up and saw his mistake.

A group of shinobi had just returned to the village and had seen him walking past, uninjured.

"So you escaped today's punishment, did you?" one of them asked. He had one of them masks on so the boy didn't see any of his facial features, just the pale face of a dog and a mass of spiky silver hair. The others were tired from their mission and just left the boy alone with new tormentor. The child felt the familiar stabs of fear as he looked at the man.

"N...no... t-today I've a-already..." he never got to finish his sentence as a foot met his face with astounding force and he was sent flying into the wall behind him.

"It's your fault he's dead you demon!" yelled the man as he continued to pummel the boy and his fists coated themselves in his blood. Then the boy felt something from the man that he had never truly felt before, blood-lust. Hate filled blood-lust. The man oozed it from every pore on his skin. Never before had someone beaten the boy with this much hate before. It shocked him and he felt the icy fingers of fear bury themselves deep into his bones.

"He died and you lived! How is that fair?! Why does the demon deserve to live and the hero die?!" The man seemed to be yelling more to himself then at the boy. The boy just curled into his usual position and waited for the pain to end.

"I should kill you... and I know how. With the jutsu that I myself created with _his_ guidance" the man muttered finally after many agonizing hours.

The boy's eyes widened as he realized that this man was actually going to end his existence. Many had threatened to but never actually committed to the act. The man stood back and made a succession of hand signs as the boy coughed up blood. A light chirping could be heard, the boy thought it was because dawn must be close and the birds were waking up. How sorely he was mistaken. Lightning had gathered around the man's hand and the whips of it against the air caused the bird like sound. The boy instantly knew the deadliness of this weapon and desperately looked for a way to escape, but the only way out was through the gates. He had never considered leaving the village, it was his prison and his home. A place where he was beaten but a place where he could sleep. But right now the only thing the boy had in his head was survival. He started to run, away from the man and away from the Hidden Leaf.

The man's smirk was hidden by the mask as he caught up to the fleeing child. He ran the lightning covered arm through the boy and felt his insides burn from the contact. The boy let loose a scream of pain. His blood boiled as if every cell was on fire. The man wrenched his hand from the boys gut and stared down at the child. He was still conscious and was still trying to flee, although he was reduced to a crawl. The man spat on the boy in disgust, turned on his heel and returned to the village.

The boy kept crawling away from the village, away from the beatings and away from the pain. After many long, agonizing minutes that seemed like days, the boy realized he would not die from this. He started to weep as he kept crawling. The warmth that usually caressed him whilst healing was lost in the aftershock of the pain from the man. He kept crawling until the first rays of dawn broke over the tops of the trees, and still the boy was in pain. The healing was taking longer than it usually did, probably because the attack was more serious than the others. Weariness dragged on the boy as he crawled along. Soon though he could fight back the darkness no longer and fell into the waiting arms of the abyss.

Just before he blacked out he could hear someone in the distance,

"Oh Kami! This boy needs serious medical attention! Shizune! Bring me my bag!"

TBC

...


	2. Chapter 1

Ten Years Later 

It was early afternoon on the road to Hidden Leaf. The sun was still high in the sky, birds chirped greetings to each other in passing and a young, blonde teenager stood on the crest of a hill and looked upon the gates to the village with sparkling eyes.

He had 3 defined marks on his cheeks that gave the impression of whiskers. His hair was bright yellow and spiked in every direction possible. His eyes were the brightest blue, and hid much behind their endless depths. Sitting faithfully by his side was a blood red fox. The elegant head of the fox came up to the boys waist, and nine bushy tails waved back and forth through the air.

"10 years.... It's been 10 years since I've been here." He thought to himself as he surveyed the landscape before him.

"**Are you sure you want to go back there, kit?"** a menacing voice growled from inside his head.** "You know how they are going to treat you, even with the old woman's help."** The boy heaved a sigh and looked down at the fox who was staring at him intently.

"I know," he thought back to the voice. "But kaa-san wanted me to do this. If she thinks this is best for me then I will not question her." Stated the boy in his mind as he walked down the hill and approached the gates.

"**Very well, but know that if those miserable excuses of people do anything, I am here if you need me,"** growled the voice softly before fading away, back to the depths of his mind and the fox trotted after his master.

"Thank-you Kyuubi..." whispered the blonde out loud before turning his attention to the looming village.

The boy was dressed in simple travellers' clothes with only minimal hints of his ninja background. A plain black shirt covered with a dark orange jacket with many pockets, hid his numerous kunai knives. A vicious looking sword was strapped to his back, which ran nearly the entire length of the boy. His lower half was covered by baggy black pants with a shuriken holster strapped to his right thigh.

He smiled briefly remembering the bright orange jumpsuit he used to wear, "If it wasn't for kaa-san I would still be wearing it," he silently chuckled to himself. His ability to smile again had been recovered months after he was saved that dark day that lead him from this village.

"Halt!" a voice demanded, breaking the boy from his thoughts. He had arrived at the village entrance and the guard had stopped him before he walked through the gates.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts," the boy quickly apologized.

"State your business," insisted the guard, nothing in his voice hid the suspicion and caution at the sight of the large fox next to him.

"Yeah, I'm here to see the Hokage," answered the boy smiling.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Nope"

'Does the Lord Hokage know you're coming?"

"No"

"Is there anyone in this village who can vouch for your identity?"

"Ummm... I don't think so, no" replied the boy pausing to think for a moment. The fox at his side chuckled silently.

"Then as required by law you must leave this village immediately or be arrested and interrogated as to your intentions within these walls," said the guard rather tiredly. Obviously he expected the blue-eyed blonde to turn around and leave, not to continue on into the village... This was what the lad was doing.

"Hey! Stop!" yelled the guard, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging him back. "I said you had to leave! Not continue walking!"

"No, you said I had to leave or will be interrogated as to my intentions. Well I already told you my intentions, I'm here to see the Hokage. I want to talk to him." Said the boy calmly, but on the inside he was holding back from growling and throwing the man for grabbing him in such a way. His hands curled into fists.

"Sorry kid, but not just anybody can go and see the Hokage, let alone enter this village without some form of identification," the guard informed the boy.

"Oh well, why didn't you just say so? I have a letter here from kaa-san saying who I am," he replied chirpily.

"Hahahahaha!! Sorry kid, but just 'coz your mama says your special doesn't mean you can go and see the Hokage!" laughed the man.

"Do you even know who my kaa-san is?!" argued the boy, "Just read the freaking letter!" insisted the child.

"Ok, OK," chortled the guard still giggling from how much of a mummy's boy this kid was. He opened the parchment and read what was inside.

_Dear Hidden Leaf gate guard,_

_I am well aware of your position in letting an un-identifiable person, such as the boy and fox you see in front of you, through the gates without any form of assurance he is not an assassin or a spy from a neighbouring village or country. However, as true as this may be, if you continue to refuse this boy entry into the Village Hidden in the Leaves then I will personally hunt you down and make sure you recognize your mistake. My son and his pet are to be treated with the utmost care and consideration when entering this village. If they are mistreated in anyway then the consequences will be making you wish for death._

_Regards_

_Tsunade Senju, _

_Member of the Sannin_

_Grand-daughter to the first Hokage of Leaf, Senju Hashirama_

The boy watched in satisfaction as the guard's face paled as he re-read the letter three times. "Trust kaa-san to make someone sweat from a letter," he smirked to himself. He could hear Kyuubi's laughter echo throughout his mind. Fang had a look on his face that could only be described as a grin.

"My deepest apologies Honourable Son!" exclaimed the guard, "I will promptly escort you to the Hokage's building forthwith!" The boy watched as he scrambled to regain favour with the son of one of the legendary Sannin.

Smiling the boy stepped into the village for the first time in ten years.

"Don't worry about it, and stop with that 'Honourable Son' crap, just call me Naruto."

Short chapter I know, sorry! But the others are gonna be longer! =] Stay tuned for more!


	3. Chapter 2

The Third Hokage was having a horrible day. First one of his jounins tried to steal one of the village's prized secret scrolls, then his grandson broke the record of attempted assassination of him today and now sitting in front of him with a goofy grin on his face looking around the room was none other than the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon, and his pet fox. He heaved a sigh, the Sandaime knew after this encounter he would have a migraine the size of the Hokage mountain.

Naruto could feel the eyes of the Hokage studying him and smirked on the inside.

"He has no idea how to handle me now, no idea of what my skills are and no idea on weather I hold a grudge against the village," he thought to himself.

"**Can you blame the man?"** answered the Kyuubi, looking up at him "**You disappear one day with no warning and suddenly re-appear ten years later, claiming to be the son of one of the Sannin no less! I would hate to be in his position..."**

"My my my, is the killer fox going sentimental?" teased the boy.

"**Shut up** **kit, he was the one of the only people who ever treated you like you were an actual person, he may still be a lowly human but he is far better than those other wretches of this miserable village. I still don't get why you want to actually help their sorry asses"** protested the great demon lord. The fox by Naruto's side lifted the side of his mouth to bare a fang. Naruto just smiled and continued to survey the Hokage's office.

"Why are you here, Naruto?" The question brought him from his thoughts and he turned to regard the old man.

"This is my home." He replied simply. The Third frowned.

"You have been missing for 10 years and many believe you to be dead. From what I can gather you have been adopted by Tsunade and were most likely happier with her than you have ever been with this village. I suppose instead of why I should ask you 'What do you want?'"

Naruto smiled brightly. Leave it to the Third to figure out he had an ulterior motive to returning.

"Kaa-san said she wanted me to get proper experience as a ninja, instead of the brawls I'm usually dragged into with her over money problems. She said she taught me as much as she can so she sent me here. I want to apply for the gennin exams that take place tomorrow." He explained, wincing slightly as the memories of some of the past fights wormed their way into his head.

The Third was speechless.

"You want to what?!"

"I want to be a ninja and go for my gennin hitai-ate." Repeated the blonde.

"But, you've had no training!" protested the Hokage. "The other students have been studying to be ninja at the academy for 6 years! Minimum! Not mentioning the training they do at home and in their spare time! You wouldn't be able to keep up with the others, let alone pass!" he continued to rant and rave until Naruto finally decided to stop him. With a kunai at his throat.

"Old man, I understand your reasons but I am nothing like the punch-bag I was before I left this village." Growled the boy as he pressed the cold metal against the man's jugular. "For 10 years I have been training under kaa-san. One of the freaking _Sannin!_ I know what's inside of me and I know of my heritage. I have power that you could hardly understand. I know you are saying this out of worry for me, but believe me. I am perfectly capable of handling myself." And with that he pulled the kunai back and sat back down.

The Third Hokage paused, thinking deeply about the implications this young child had insinuated. If he knew about the demon in him, then he could have access to his chakra and infinite knowledge and if he really did know his heritage... _Kami help us, he could be even more powerful then __**he**__ was at his prime!_ Clearing his throat to get the blonde's attention, the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village made his decision.

"Very well Naruto. In light of the evidence you have shown me," he rubbed his throat slightly, " I have decided you shall participate in the gennin exams with my personal recommendation. I shall be your sponsor and caretaker as long as you live in this village without a guardian. You can live in your father's house that is located near the West Forest. It is protected by blood-seals so to get in you...,"

"I know how to get in old man. I am well informed about many types of seals," interrupted the boy, who was grinning widely at his acceptance for the exam.

"Very well. The exam takes place at precisely 0700 tomorrow morning in the academy. Do not do anything that would shame your name and in turn mine." He warned before smiling hugely.

"Welcome back, Naruto"

...

Naruto and Kyuubi walked through the village, observing the people and slowly making their way to Naruto's new house. Many of the villagers gave him suspicious or fearful looks due to the large fox trotting beside him. Naruto ignored them. He was used to people judging him. As he neared the West Forest. He passed the nobles district, where prestigious families such as the Hyuugas and Uchihas reside. A sharp whistling was all the warning he had before a shurikan buried itself in the ground just beyond his feet. Naruto paused and stared at the weapon whilst Kyuubi sniffed at it.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?!" demanded a voice. Naruto turned to see a group of kids his age staring at him. The one who had thrown the shuriken standing at the head of the group. He had black hair that spiked up in the back and reminded Naruto of a ducks ass. His onyx eyes stared at him coldly.

"Don't you usually introduce yourself before asking someone their name?" asked Naruto, ignoring the piece of metal at his feet, he continued on.

"Hey! Wait! Only nobles are allowed in this area of the village and their guests" protested a girl with pink hair and matching dress. "Who were you invited by? I've never seen you around the village before." Continued the pink haired girl. Kyuubi had finished inspecting the shuriken and had now decided to inspect the girl. Pinky squealed like the little girl she is, as the curious fox sniffed her up and down. Naruto held back a chuckle.

"Who knew the mighty demon lord would be acting like a curious cat?" Naruto said in his head. He was shortly answered by a growl

"**I need to act the part don't I? This fox body has its own desires that I cannot control, I don't say anything about your primal desires so you don't say anything about mine." **Retorted the great fox demon. Naruto just laughed silently.

"Restrain your beast!" screamed the pink haired girl, as the fox finished sniffing all he could on four legs and had opted to placing to paws on her front to sniff her face. His tails swaying back and forth energetically.

"And I'm meant to be the kit?" he asked silently chuckling.

"**Shut it. Now call me over so they think you have **_**some**_** sense of control over me. I like the name Fang" **he added. Naruto could feel the beast grinning in his head. Of course he had to pick a freaky name, at least it's better than Kyuubi.... he would probably be chased out of town if he called the fox that. Shaking his head still smirking, the blonde called for the fox.

"Fang! Come here, stop harassing the girl. You've already eaten today." Called the boy. The rest of the group visibly flinched at the implication of the fox eating human flesh. Kyuubi gave a fox grin at the girl before licking her face and quickly padding over to his master, sat beside him and surveyed the group.

A blonde haired kunoichi had come and helped the shaky pink haired one, saying soothing words to calm down the girl. Naruto was dumbfounded on how anyone could be traumatized by getting licked in the face from a friendly animal, not that they knew he was far, _far _from friendly. The duck-butt haired guy was still glaring daggers at Naruto, not noticing the distress of one of his friends.

"I asked you who you were, and why you are in my clan's house!" repeated the black haired boy. Naruto quickly looked around him and discovered he was in the Uchiha clan's district.

"Sorry for intruding, but I was just taking a short-cut to my house. If you'll excuse me," Naruto politely bowed and continued on his way, hands in his pockets and whistling an aimless tune.

The boy who threw the shuriken quickly thought,

"The only other houses in that direction are reserved for the Hokage or council members! I'm pretty sure I have never seen him here before so he must be trying to break-in somewhere to steal something. I will not have my home desecrated by some blonde idiot!" Out loud he said,

"You still haven't told me who you are. Plus foxes are shunned in this village and you're house can't be that way, only Hokage and council members are permitted beyond the West Forest"

A sigh could be heard from the pink and blonde haired kunoichi, "Sasuke-kun is so smart" they gushed. Naruto had to hold back the nausea that threatened to overcome him.

"Well, _Sasuke-kun,_ my house is that way so you're wrong there and Fang cannot and will not be separated from me, good-luck trying and I wish you a quick death, not like his usual ones," answered Naruto looking at the fox, who grinned at the mention of his name.

Pinky screeched at this statement and Sasuke was wincing on the inside, but his cold demeanour didn't betray his real thoughts.

"You still didn't tell us your name." He stated. Naruto scratched his head, thinking.

"What do you think Kyuubi? Should I tell them my full name? Adopted name? Or a fake name?" he asked quietly in his mind.

"**It's your choice kit, but if they follow you then they'll figure it out once you get to your house. You'll save yourself a headache if you tell them now, mind you, you'll still get a headache just now not later,"** said the Kyuubi in a rather bored tone. Running his hand through his blonde hair, Naruto made his choice.

"My name is Naruto," he said simply, then turned around and continued on towards his house, leaving a frustrated Sasuke behind.


	4. Chapter 3

It was everything he ever wanted in a house. It was a house of dreams. Naruto simply stared at the giant estate. It was surrounded by the forest and only if you knew where to look could you see the house. It wasn't as grand as the Hyuuga's or as spacious as the Uchiha's but it was.... majestic. Just by looking you could tell it once housed the strongest and wisest of all shinobi. Its three stories were supported by decorative banisters that made it blend into the surroundings. As Naruto stepped up to the perimeter her felt a force that made him unable to continue forward. Frowning, he pushed against the force only to be shoved back a few feet. He heard a slight snickering from the bushes and he frowned further. Those kids had followed him, wanting to find out where he lived. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. He should have picked up on them the moment they started following him, not now when they made a mistake! He was lucky he didn't talk to Kyuubi using his real name. He muttered a string of curses under his breath. Kyuubi bounced up to Naruto and gave him a pleading look. Naruto smiled.

"Don't scare them too bad." He said in answer to the look. Kyuubi yipped in joy and ran off into the forest. "Have fun!" he called after the fox. Smirking he returned to the barrier around his new house and brought out a kunai. He pulled back his sleeve, baring the flesh of his arm and brought the razor sharp blade down.

Sasuke was pissed. The pink and blonde kunoichi, known and Sakura and Ino, followed him everywhere nowadays and now he was trapped against a rock face by the blood red fox that was following that suspicious blonde guy around this afternoon. The fact that Sasuke was following him is irrelevant, He was Sasuke Uchiha. He had the right to know anything that happened near his home.

The fox grinned playful and nipped at Sasuke's feet, causing him to stumble back, his back hit a stony wall. He was alone in facing this creature. The others had fled the minute the fox had shown up in their hiding spot, hoping to find out something about Naruto, growling menacingly at them. Sasuke was the only one who stayed to fight the beast.

Sasuke threw a handful of shuriken at the beast, all aiming for vital points. Kyuubi neatly dodged them all and leaped at the boy. The fox opened his jaws, presenting a line of deadly fangs, and held them a breath away from the child's throat. Sasuke froze in fear.

"Is this where it ends?" he thought to himself. "NO! I still have things to do! I must avenge my family and I must kill _him!_" were his last thoughts as the fox descended.

"FANG!!" yelled a voice. "Fang, come look at this! You won't believe the stuff I found!" The fox paused, his teeth seconds away from piercing Sasuke's neck. A whine came from the fox, when the blonde haired boy emerged from the tree. Naruto took one look at the scene before collapsing with laughter. Sasuke was shocked. He wouldn't admit he needed help, but to just laugh at him when he is about to be devoured by the boy's pet, is beyond cold.

"Hahaha, are you getting soft in your old age, Fang?" wheezed the boy when he finally got control of the mirth that racked his body. At this the fox lifted his head, snapped his mighty jaws shut, and growled at the boy. Naruto stopped laughing and studied the boy.

"You're right he doesn't, does he?" he answered an unvoiced question. The fox nodded his head as if he understood what the boy said. "Naw, and here I thought I would finally have some blackmail material on you," pouted the child. Sasuke was beyond confused at this one sided conversation.

"What the hell are you on about?!" he demanded, interrupting Naruto's conversation with himself.

"Oh yeah, you're still here," he mused to himself. "I was just teasing Fang about not scaring you off properly, but apparently you didn't run when the others did and fought back. He likes you, that's why he played with you for a bit'" he said to the black haired boy.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"That was _playing?!_"

"Hahaha yeah, otherwise you would have been dead already without even seeing him," smirked the boy, amused at Sasuke's disbelief. Sasuke quickly looked at the fox that had an evil grin on its face, before it whipped a tail in its face and raced over to its master.

"Well what did you mean when you said 'he doesn't, does he?'?!" demanded Sasuke. Naruto quirked an eyebrow at his arrogant attitude.

"And, pray tell, why should I explain myself to _you?_ When you're the one stalking me and fighting with my beloved pet?" Naruto countered. Sasuke was about to retort to this insolent question when a low menacing growl interrupted him. The fox, 'Fang' had turned his head towards the blonde haired boy and had lifted up its hackles at the last statement.

"What's wrong with it now?" questioned Sasuke warily. Naruto just smiled goofily.

"He just doesn't like to be referred to as a pet. He thinks he is the almighty, great lord fox and people should worship the ground he walks on for they are no better than flee-ridden meat sacks good only for stating his pompous appetite," announced the boy grandly, as if he were introducing a noble at a ball. The effect was lost by the heavy sarcastic tone and the boys multiple eye-rolls. Sasuke snorted at this which made Naruto gasp in surprise.

"Oh! So you can laugh! I thought the stick that you so righteously shoved up your ass was stuck there permanently!" grinned the boy. Sasuke frowned at this. "This guy is an idiot" he thought to himself.

"No. I was simply laughing at you for thinking that a mere animal can understand you," shot the steely eyed Uchiha. Naruto lost his grin and looked at Kyuubi with caution.

"**He **_**dares**_** to call **_**me**_** a mere ANIMAL?!"** roared the demon in Naruto's mind.

"Now, now he doesn't know who he's talking to." Quickly said the blonde in an effort to calm the raging creature.

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Kyuubi had his head lowered and legs crouched in preparation for launching himself at the insolent child. His eyes glowed red and his pupils were black slits. White fangs were bared as the growl increased in volume. Sasuke stared at the fox and fear blossomed in his chest. 'Maybe insulting the beast was a bad idea,' he thought to himself before the kitsune let out a soul-shattering roar. Never before had the Uchiha heard anything so cold and blood-thirsty. The sound was layered with hate and contempt and frightened Sasuke to his core.

"Ah, _there _it is" Naruto said quietly, cutting off Kyuubi's roar. The fox ran up to Sasuke and stared into his eyes, before giving off a little yip of approval and licking his cheek. Naruto smirked at this but decided to tease the fox about it later. Right now he needed to deal with the very confused Uchiha in front of him.

"What's there?" asked Sasuke when he gathered his thoughts. The roar had shocked him but the lick on his cheek shocked him even more. Still grinning, Naruto sat down in front of the Uchiha and Kyuubi laid down beside him, wrapping his nine tails about the boy and resting his head on his paws.

"Fear," Said Naruto simply. Sasuke furrowed his brow as he tried to understand what just he was saying. Seeing as the boy was getting nowhere Naruto decided to elaborate.

"Fang hates to be belittled and under-estimated. Plus you intrigued him when you showed no fear of him as he was about to break your neck. So he decided that he wanted to scare you enough to show that you should fear him. He probably wants you to revere him as well but he knows that's never gonna happen," he explained. "Oh and he can understand you, and is probably smarter than any person you've ever met so I advise against calling him a '_mere animal'"_ finished Naruto chuckling slightly.

Sasuke was dumbfounded with this new information about the fox. Who right now was following a butterfly's flight pattern with his nose.

"Who _are _you?!" asked Sasuke again, this time a little less arrogantly. Naruto sighed.


	5. Chapter 4

"I've said already, my name is Naruto," the blonde boy said in a monotone.

'He's hiding something. Something about his last name, or parents or clan or... dammit he's hiding everything about himself! I only know his name!' Sasuke thought in frustration. Naruto smirked at Sasuke's expression. Messing with people can be so much fun, he thought to himself. He faintly heard the Kyuubi chuckle in the back of his mind.

"That doesn't tell me anything!!" exploded the Uchiha. He was tired of all the mind games and word tricks! He wanted answers!

"How come I've never seen you before? Why are you in the noble's district? Who gave you permission to come here? Why are you in this village?"demanded the Uchiha. Naruto thought for a minute while Sasuke was trying to regain his cool.

"You've never seen me before because I arrived in the village today. I am in the noble's district 'coz this is where I now live. The Hokage gave me permission to be here. And I'm in this village because kaa-san wants me to be a ninja, so I'm here to take the gennin exams tomorrow," answered Naruto counting each question of his fingers. "Is that enough of the Spanish Inquisition today? I'm hungry and I want to go home. You're parents are probably wondering where you are." Added Naruto.

'wrong thing to say," he thought instantly as a dark look came across Sasuke's face.

"I... don't have parents, so I can keep you here as long as I want," covering his moment of weakness with that one arrogant statement.

'So he's kinda like me," thought Naruto. Instead he said, "Well you know all about me now so tell me about you. Name, family, likes, dislikes and stuff like that. So far all I know is that them girls called you _Sasuke-kun_" finishing his sentence in a mock girl tone.

Sasuke looked at him for a moment, his face blank of all emotion.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, last of the Uchiha clan, holders of the doujutsu Sharingan. I don't like many things and dislike everything else."

Naruto whistled lowly. "You're an Uchiha, huh?" ' he will be a powerful ninja when he gets his head out of his ass' thought Naruto. Of course he had heard of the Uchiha massacre. That was before he had even left the village. One of their own slaughtered everyone within the Uchiha compound leaving only one alive, the cold-eyed jerk in front of him now apparently.

"Got a problem with that?!" demanded Sasuke.

"No, no. Just wondering why the great and all-mighty Uchiha is bothered with little old me?" wondered Naruto out loud. Sasuke frowned at his disrespect to his clan, but was wondering that himself. Lots of people came into the village every day, but for some reason he felt drawn to this one strange boy. There was something about him that intrigued Sasuke and made him wary of him as well. Was it the way he carried himself? Like an animal constantly on guard, stalking its prey. Or the way his eyes held that spark of mischief that in one moment turn from amusing to deadly? Either way there was something about this boy that made Sasuke connect with, as much as he hated creating bonds with other people.

"..uke. Sasuke. SASUKE!" yelled the blonde trying to bring the onyx-eyed boy out of his thoughts. He looked up and around him, noticing that it had gotten dark during their conversation. The fox had its head resting in Naruto's lap and was dozing while the boy the fox was using as a pillow was staring at him with a hint of concern.

"You ok there? You fully spaced out for a while." Stated Naruto, unknown to Sasuke he was checking his vital signs.

"Sorry just lost in my thoughts," said Sasuke. Wait. Did he just apologize? Him? The great Sasuke Uchiha?! He never apologized! He was always right and the other person always wrong! This was seriously messed up. He started to feel dizzy and got up too fast. He swayed on his feet before feeling something support him. Looking down he saw the fox leaning against his thigh, staring up at him with those blood-red eyes.

"You sure you're ok? You might have caught something sitting here for hours," asked Naruto. "Will you be able to make it back to your compound alright? It's pretty far from here and if you don't know where 'here' is then you're pretty screwed," Naruto said, frowning slightly. He was torn between helping someone and keeping people out of his home. He didn't want to make too many roots here in case it made it harder for him to leave. Sasuke snorted.

"I'm fine idiot. I have the exam tomorrow so I won't get sick and I know my way around here like the back of my hand." He claimed, putting on a front to once again cover for his weakness. The cocky attitude settled it for Naruto.

"That's it, you're staying at my place tonight." He said flatly, leaving no room for argument. It didn't stop Sasuke from trying anyway. But before a sound even came out of his mouth Naruto spoke over him with his fingers held up.

"One: you don't know where you are so you would just get lost trying to find your way back home. Two: You are obviously tired from today and are feeling weaker than normal, so I doubt you could even make it home. Three: I need someone to show me to the academy tomorrow morning as I am taking the exam too." Counting off each point as he said it. Sasuke glared at him. Then frowned more.

'You're taking the exam tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, I said my kaa-san wanted me to be a ninja"

"But you haven't been through the academy! How are you going to get let into the exam?!"

"Personal recommendation from kaa-san and the Hokage, they say I have enough experience and power to pass the exam so I am allowed to take it" Naruto answered smiling, remembering how he convinced the Hokage to let him take the exam. 'Bet that the old man hasn't had a scare like that in a while,' he thought with satisfaction.

Sasuke was once again speechless at this boy who just walked into his life.

"_Personal_ recommendation from the_ Hokage?!_" he asked in disbelief.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, him and kaa-san," he confirmed.

"Wait, who's you're kaa-san?!" 'I don't even know his last name!' He thought to himself.

"She'd rather I didn't tell people about her yet. Rather I prove myself with my own skills than brag with her name," Naruto answered, shrugging his shoulders.

Sasuke stored this bit of information in the back of his head. Frowning, he was torn between accepting the boy's offer (Using his own stupidity at not being able to find the academy by himself of course) or saving his dignity and attempt to walk back to his house.

His Uchiha pride won over and he stated with as much arrogance as he could muster,

"I have no need to take residence in your house tonight, I am perfectly capable of finding my own way home. If you have need of my help, then meet me out front of my compound tomorrow morning at 6, and you can follow me to the academy,"

Naruto smirked at his self-righteous attitude and decided it slide.

"Thank-you for your most, gracious and humbling offer, oh great Sasuke. I fear my presence taints you so I shall remove myself. Until tomorrow then," Naruto finished with an exaggerated bow, grinning the whole time, before getting up and walking back to his new house, Kyuubi on his heels.

"Idiot," thought Sasuke as he made his way back home. "At least it's going to be interesting tomorrow,"


	6. Chapter 5

Naruto was seriously regretting his decision of allowing the Uchiha to show him the way to the academy. He was receiving many curious looks of almost every passer-by and death glares from every female in the village. Kyuubi was loving the attention and was frolicking around their legs as they walked, showing off his fluffy tails and graceful body. He wanted to keep a low profile for at least a week! It was like they'd never seen the Uchiha with another living being before. Naruto snorted at this thought

"Yeah, with his awesome attitude, he must be the friendliest guy here!" he chuckled to himself.

Sasuke looked back at the blonde and noticed his grin.

"What's so funny, loser?"

Naruto frowned at this new nickname Sasuke had been so kind to give him.

"Your face," was all he said, then ran ahead to avoid a kunai to the throat. Many of the witnesses heaved a sigh of relief, this was the Sasuke they all knew. Indifferent to everyone but when you pushed his buttons, deadly.

They arrived at the academy gates slightly out of breath from the mini war they had on the way there. Sasuke straightened up and made his face blank of all emotion. Even the flush he got from running was wiped from his face. Naruto looked at him curiously before they headed in different directions. Sasuke had to get to his class, and Naruto had to be enrolled for the day.

As Naruto waited outside the classroom to be introduced to the rest of the class, he turned to the fox by his side and spoke to him seriously.

"Please, try and restrain yourself from sniffing everybody in there!" he whispered urgently. "I do not want you kicked out for causing a scene. Try to use your best behaviour. If you do, there'll be a rabbit in for you," he bargained. Hoping the message will stick.

"**Make it three and you have a deal. You worry too much kit. From what I can smell, someone has a liking for bugs and another for dogs. We shouldn't stand out... much"** was the creature's calm reply.

"Two, and that's no excuse! You almost ate that Pink chick from yesterday! Just stay by my side and look cute, you've been pulling it off rather well lately," he added as an afterthought. Kyuubi growled.

"**Two and a half and I do not do cute! I am a feared demon in the underworld, and you will do good to remember that kit! And I didn't eat her, I was just trying to figure out how there could be a pink furred human. Haven't seen one before."** The fox mused.

"Deal, now shut-up and don't speak to me unless it's urgent. I don't want people to think I'm crazy and talk to myself" The blonde had barely finished talking when the door in front of him opened and his new sensei stood there. He stared at him blankly for a minute before whispering,

"N-Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at the man.

"Hello Iruka-sensei! Long time no see!"he said bubbly to the shocked ninja. He liked Iruka. He was decent to him when he was young, before he left the village.

"You're the new student today who's taking the exam?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yup. The old-man gave me his recommendation and so did kaa-san." Explained the blonde youth. Iruka frowned at the mention of a kaa-san. The boy was an orphan. Both his parents died when he was born. He decided to talk to the Hokage about it later, right now the other students in his class were getting curious as to why he was standing in the doorway for so long.

"Attention class! Today we have a new student who will be participating in the gennin exams with you. Please make him feel welcome," announced Iruka, stepping aside to reveal Naruto and Kyuubi. "Please Introduce yourself,"

"Hi. My name is Naruto and this is Fang. We arrived yesterday. Pleased to meet you all," Naruto recited a little bored. He surveyed the class, a few stood out. Sasuke was sitting by himself, staring out a window, oblivious to Naruto's arrival. No surprises there. The pink and blonde haired kunoichi were sitting directly behind him, ignoring Naruto and fawning over the dark haired wonder. Some guy was sleeping next to another guy who was stuffing his face with chips, Naruto noticed them for their chakra signals, they were more developed then most. The last three that caught Naruto's eye were the ones with the funny scents. One boy who wore a trench coat and he had the scent of insects about him. What interested Naruto that it wasn't just about him the scent lingered, it was in him too. The kunoichi that sat with them was incredibly shy and refused to meet his eyes, but her chakra signal was way sophisticated.

"Must be a noble" Naruto thought before he turned his gaze to the last guy. He had the scent of dogs about him, and looked a bit feral too. Naruto thought he was strange with his whisker marks, this guy had claws and fangs of a dog and had out make-up on under his eyes to add to his charm. Naruto's attention was distracted by the puppy the boy had who had stood up on the table and was now growling at the blonde boy and his fox. Naruto quirked an eye-brow at his behaviour.

"Hey! Akamaru! Calm down will ya? What's wrong?" the dog boy asked his pet, curious as to what could get the usual docile puppy so riled up.

"**Hmm, the mutt thinks I'm invading his territory. Little does he know that all the lands are **_**mine.**_**" **The Kyuubi's voice echoed in Naruto's head. Naruto looked down at the fox that had turned its gaze towards the dog.

"Oi! New kid! Get your fox to admit dominance is Akamaru's otherwise its gonna get hurt! And I'm not gonna be responsible for him defending his territory!"shouted the dog-boy getting Naruto's attention. The blue-eyed boy looked at the other kid incredulously.

"You think that Fang would lose to the puppy?" he asked, trying to make sure he heard right.

"Hell yeah he would. Akamaru may be small but he could beat almost everybody here," boasted the kid proudly, the rest of the class laughed at Naruto's impending embarrassment of his animal losing. Akamaru was still growling at Kyuubi, his hackle raised. The fox just yawned, causing Naruto to snort in amusement and the dog boy to stare in disbelief. No animal has ever gone against Akamaru before. The scene between the two animals had gotten the attention of the rest of the class, including Sasuke and the kunoichi behind him. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the scene while Pinky gave a little shriek.

"That's the fox and the boy from yesterday! That fox almost ate us all! Sasuke had to fight it off for us all to escape!! It should be put down!!" she screamed, informing the rest of the class about their little adventure yesterday. Naruto grinned and Sasuke sighed. Man, girls were annoying.

"Fang didn't eat anyone, he just scared you off 'coz you were following me," explained Naruto. "And Sasuke didn't fight him off, in fact they became friends," he added with an evil smirk. Sasuke frowned at the boy but his comeback was interrupted by a bark.

Akamaru had had enough of waiting for obedience and had launched himself at Kyuubi. Naruto was surprised when he read the dog's chakra levels, they were on par with some of the other students here! Naruto just smiled and turned to Iruka who was watching with caution.

"Excuse me sensei, but can I sit down now?" he asked innocently, as if the animal war in front of him wasn't going on.

Kyuubi just sat there as the furry projectile launched itself at him. "So much for not making a scene," he thought to himself as he stretched lazily, avoiding the puppy as he did so. Akamaru landed and growled at the fox, before launching himself again. Kyuubi looked calmly at the animal before whipping out one of his tails and tripping the creature. Akamaru got to his feet and attacked again, only to be diverted with another tail.

"Umm, yeah, sure, just pick any seat," he said distractedly, watching the fox play with the dog.

Kyuubi finally got tired of messing with the puppy. Stretching a bit he focused his gaze on the furious animal. Akamaru was inches away from the fox when he found he could not move. Each of his limbs was held down by a tail and his torso held down by three more. Akamaru stopped his struggling and stared at the larger animal with a hint of fear. The classroom fell quiet as they waited to see who the victor was. A low, menacing growl slowly built in Kyuubi's throat that erupted into an ear-shattering roar. Naruto went over to the fox and hit him on the head, effectively cutting off the sound.

"Remember our deal," he said to the fox quietly, making sure he was the only one who heard. At least Kyuubi had the dignity to look bashful before he released the pup and nudged him with his nose. Akamaru stared at the majestic fox, gave a happy bark and ran back to his master, whose mouth was hanging open.

'Now to find a seat,' Thought Naruto, scanning the class before he picked the perfect one.

"Thank you" Naruto chirped to Iruka as he made his way to the seat he wanted, the one beside Sasuke, with his fox following faithfully by his side. Everyone in the class held their breath as Naruto took the seat and his fox made himself comfy between the two. No-one had ever dared to sit next to the Uchiha, not even his fan girls. Yet here is this boy who happily sat down beside him and turned to him and said,

"Heya Sasuke. Is class always this hectic?"


	7. Chapter 6

"We will now begin the gennin exams. There are two parts as well as an extra credit that is optional. The first part is the written exam and will take approximately 2 hours. The second part is practical and you will be tested on your ninjutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu. For extra credit you may perform a jutsu of your choice to impress the proctors. Depending on your performance, you will become shinobi of the Leaf by the end of the day. Any questions?"

Iruka and another shinobi were standing at the front of the class, informing the students about the exam. Naruto looked bored. "Kaa-san taught me everything I need to know, so the written will be a piece of cake. Taijutsu, ninjutsu and kenjutsu will be even easier. I don't carry that sword around for nothing" he grinned to himself, referring to the body-length sword he usually carried around, but has been kept in a storage scroll whilst in the village. Didn't want to draw more attention to him. "Wonder what jutsu I should perform for extra credit?" he mused silently. Unaware to him, the black haired Uchiha was watching him closely.

"He doesn't look fazed in the least. Though I would've been disappointed if he got freaked over the exam after yesterday. If he is able to control an animal that powerful, he must have plenty of tricks up his sleeve." He was thinking to himself. His thoughts were interrupted though, when one of the proctors put the paper down in front of him.

"You Have two hours. Begin!" barked Iruka from the front of the class.

Sasuke put the blonde out of his mind as he studies the paper before him, none of it was anything new. He picked up his pencil and started answering questions. The room filled with the sound of lead on paper and many groans from students who hadn't studied enough.

He was half-way through his test when he heard a light snoring. Wondering who in the class, other than Shikamaru, laziest ninja alive, would be cocky enough to sleep through the exam, Sasuke looked around the class. He didn't have to look far as the blonde haired boy next to him answered his question. Naruto had his head resting in his arms and was completely knocked out. Kyuubi had seen that he was asleep, jumped in his lap and offered the boy his tails as a pillow. Naruto shifted in his sleep to accommodate the fox. When they both got comfy, sleep quickly claimed them again. Sasuke just looked at the pair in disbelief. He wasn't even halfway through his test and was most likely ahead of the majority of the class. He quickly looked at Naruto's page that was peeking out from his arm. It was completely filled with neat handwriting, filling nearly every crevice on the page. Sasuke was dumbfounded, again. There was something this kid was hiding. How could he be so smart? He must have had intensive training. Sasuke shuddered as he remembered the hours he put into becoming as good as he is. This guy had obviously gone further.

"What am I thinking?! I need to finish this exam!" he thought, shaking himself slightly and returned to his paper.

...

"Pens down! Hand your papers to the proctors as they come down each aisle." The authoritive voice woke Naruto with a start. He yawned and stretched, eyeing the class. Many looked worried about their answers and some were still trying to cram as much as they could onto their papers. Naruto smirked. He had passed with ease. All of these questions he could have answered when he was 5. "Goes to show how much of a Spartan kaa-san is with her training" he thought, shuddering at the memories of Tsunade and him 'training'. He quickly glanced over at his bench partner, expecting him to be in the same state of panic the others were, but was surprised to see him staring out the window, his head resting on one of his hands. "Well, well, well the mighty Uchiha must have some brains in him if he's this calm.... or he's just really cocky and thinks he's aced it anyway," His thoughts were interrupted once again by Iruka giving instructions about the next part of the exam.

"When your name is called, please come down to the front of the class and perform the taijutsu techniques asked of you. After that please return to your seat and wait for the next part of the exam."

This was the part Naruto had been waiting for. He hoped he wasn't first so he could observe the level of the other students and therefore dumb down his talents so he doesn't stand out. But of course the universe is a jerk and the first name to be called out was,

"Naruto!" please come down to the front."

Naruto sighed and picked Kyuubi of his lap and placed him on his seat, before walking down to the front of the class. He could feel the stares of all the other students on him, wondering just how good this new kid really is.

"Please take your fighting stance," instructed Iruka. Naruto could see a proctor taking a different fighting stance across from him. "Kenji-sensei will attack you and you will respond in the assigned techniques. Understood?"

"Yes, sensei." Naruto said, ha bored tone creeping in slightly.

"Very well, Kenji-sensei will attack you with a straight left hook, you will respond by blocking the attack and initiating a counter-attack of your choice. From then on it will be free-sparring and we will grade you on how well you stand up against a fellow shinobi."

"Yes, sensei." Naruto said again, this time not bothering to hide his impatient sigh. The ninja in front of him, Kenji, was obviously offended with his attitude, and a slight malicious shine came into his eyes. The student body grinned at the stage in front of them. Kenji-sensei had a short temper and if you were on the receiving end of it you would be in the hospital within minutes of the words leaving your mouth. He wasn't a well liked teacher and there were numerous rumours about him abusing many young children, but none were proven and if you dared to go against him, well, those who had decided to move town. The dog boy, Kiba, was smiling more than the others. This was the perfect way to get back at the new kid for the humiliation he had suffered earlier.

Kyuubi lifted his head from his paws and yawned after his nap, being awakened after all the noise. Seeing his master in a fighting pose he gave a little growl and jumped down from Naruto's seat to go stand by his master.

"It's alright Fang," Naruto said his eyes never leaving his opponent's. The fox paused, tilted its head to one side before sitting down out in front of the class, but away from the fight. He gave a yip to say he understood, causing Naruto to turn and smile at him. The moment his back was turned, Kenji struck.

Fortunately for Naruto he was prepared for such an underhanded trick. Fighting in brawls most of his life he had learned to defend against a lot of them. As Kenji's fist flew straight towards his chin, Naruto quickly side-stepped and avoided the blow. Remembering the instructions was to block, he raised his hands and grabbed a hold of the fist, and using his momentum, threw the abusive instructor over his shoulder and into the wall. The class was stunned. No one had ever gotten the upper-hand against Kenji before. Cursing could be heard from the pile on the floor that was the fallen instructor.

"Bad move kid," he growled quietly but full of malice. "now it's time to spar" his sick, twisted grin showed Naruto the delight he gained from beating weaker opponents. This revelation erased the boredom Naruto was experiencing until now. Remembering his own tortured past, his mind was made up. Exam or no, he would put this bastard into his place.


	8. Chapter 7

Ok this is a long chapter! longest one yet. Thank you to everyone who has added this story as a favorite or subscribed. You guys make writing this worth while! thank u for the reviews too! any and all are welcome! answering one that was submitted anonymously, you are free to give me constructive criticism but please dont say my story is a failure, thats just being a jerk. I admit i suck at summaries so that doesn't really bother me and this is my first story ever so there are bound to be problems, that doesnt mean my story 'needs to be put out of its misery and deleted'. also the responses i have had so far are very humbling and i thank all who give their time to tell me. I dont usually write things before or after the chapter coz i think it distracts u from the story, so im gonna shut up now. Thanks for reading and please enjoy!

Pa0lini

* * *

Kenji gave a battle cry as he launched himself at Naruto. Naruto easily dodged the attack and before Kenji could move to attack again; his gaze was filled with the sight of a black, clad foot. The force of the kick sent him flying back. Naruto could feel the nose of his opponent break when he sent him flying. Turning to Iruka he asked,

"How long do we spar for? First blood?"

Iruka looked at the once weak child and answered sadly

"Until you're proctor decides whether or not you are able to pass or you fail." Iruka hated Kenji. He always failed his examinees. Never gave them a chance to fight back, before he beat them to a bloody pulp. And there was nothing he could do about. The rest of the class must have known this, because Naruto could hear murmurs of sympathy and the distinct sound of people betting on how bad his injuries will be. He smirked. They had no idea...

A kunai broke his through his thoughts. Naruto grabbed the projectile in mid air and threw it back at his enemy, just scraping his cheek to leave a line of blood there. Kenji looked furious, his face a bloody mess. Never before had some _student_ ever been able to hit him. He was going to make this brat pay.

"I here-by merge Naruto's two practical exams into one sparring demonstration. The kenjutsu and taijutsu exam will now commence." Stated Kenji with an evil smirk. Gasps were heard around the classroom; Kenji had basically given himself the right to torture this boy under the impression of an exam. Even Kiba had lost his smirk and felt sorry for the guy. Sasuke showed no expression on his face and just raised an eyebrow at the situation. But on the inside he was secretly dying with anticipation for what was going to happen. He had no doubt in his mind that Naruto could beat Kenji. The question was just how bad. Iruka was gripping the desk so hard his knuckles had turned white. He remembered when Naruto was a boy and he used to take him out for ramen when he after one of his daily punishments. The child had just smiled and laughed as though nothing was wrong, he felt the urge to protect him, but was powerless to do so. And here he was again in a situation where he could do absolutely nothing to help. Naruto turned and saw the distress of his sensei and smiled at him. That smile completely threw Iruka off. It was full of confidence and mischief.

Naruto turned his attention once again to Kenji.

"Kenji-_sensei,_" he asked in a mocking tone. "Because I am new here, what weapons are we allowed to use? Because I'm not sure if the ones I have are legible."

Iruka butted in before Kenji could make up anymore rules that would put the boy at a disadvantage.

"Kunais, shurikens, katanas, swords, senbon needles, axes, maces ... anything that has a blade or can be used to hurt your openest basically." Listed Iruka, glaring at Kenji as he stated the weapons.

"Oh sweet. Fang!" Naruto called to his fox that ran up to him upon his call. Iruka was about to say that animals can't be counted as weapons when the fox seemed to catch fire and disappear. "Show off," he heard Naruto mutter. Before Iruka could say anything more, Kenji had decided to attack.

Pulling out numerous kunai knives he threw them all at Naruto with deadly precision. Naruto smirked at his attempt to injure him before moving. To all but the chuunin level of ninja, he seemed to disappear. The students cast confused looks around, searching for the blonde haired boy. Naruto reappeared holding a wire and a bunch of kunai. He was leaning casually against a desk. Sasuke followed the wire and his eyes widened in surprise. A senbon needle was stuck through the wall on the opposite side of the classroom, and it had passed through the hole at the end of every kunai Kenji had thrown at him. The kunai knives he was currently holding were proof of this, as they had Kenji's clan symbol engraved on them. As the class grasped what has happened, many stares of disbelief fell onto the new boy.

"Just how did he throw that needle with enough force to pierce the _wall?!_" was the only thing running through Sasuke's mind. The entire class seemed to freeze as all eyes fell on boy out front.

Iruka cleared his throat, "Kenjutsu accuracy: Pass"

Kenji growled with hatred at the boy. How dare he make a fool of him?! He would put this brat in his place if it was the last thing he would do. Waves of killing intent hit the classroom like a tsunami. Those who weren't strong enough to withstand it, collapsed from the mental strain. The only students who stayed conscious were the ones that had caught Naruto's eye earlier. Naruto felt the bloodlust coming from Kenji and quirked an eyebrow at the man.

"Wow, you really hate to lose, don't you?" he asked the man, with his head tilted to one side, giving him the look of innocent curiosity. Kenji growled again and made quickly made a seal with his hands.

"NO Kenji! Ninjutsu is not permitted!" Iruka yelled, hoping the man would stop. But once again, the universe is a bitch, and Kenji completely ignored Iruka and completed his jutsu.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled, and the classroom was filled with copies of Kenji. Naruto looked around, mentally counting the clones of his adversary. Iruka growled in frustration. Turning to one of the on-looking shinobi he barked, "Go get the Hokage NOW! Tell him that Kenji is abusing the new student!" nodding the ninja vanished to report to the Hokage.

Naruto was thinking, "There's about 60 of them, hmm could be trouble. Where the hell is Kyuubi?!" just as he was contemplating the whereabouts of the fox, a ball of fire appeared by Naruto's side, the kitsune in the centre of it. Naruto's large blade was strapped to his back.

"Well it's about time," grinned the blonde, retrieving his weapon from the animal's back. Kyuubi gave a happy yip before running back to Naruto's seat. Changing his mind, Kyuubi decided to jump onto Sasuke and make himself comfortable. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the fox, but allowed him to settle before turning his attention back to the fight.

Naruto wielded his sword with ease, and got into a fighting position. Kenji smirked at the boy's confidence. His clones surrounded him.

"Just 'coz you got yourself a big-ass sword doesn't mean you not gonna get whooped," he bragged. Naruto just smiled, showing all of his teeth, in a very fox-like grin, saying nothing. Kenji grunted in frustration at not being able to provoke his opponent. Grabbing a kunai from his pocket, his clones copying him, he attacked. Naruto surveyed the oncoming rush of Kenjis calmly before swinging his blade and decapitating 4 of them. The clones 'poofed' out of existence. Avoiding a kunai aiming at the back of his head, Naruto did a neat back-flip, his legs kicking out and destroying two more clones. He then couched, stuck out his sword and turned, making another ten clones disappear. The real Kenji was hanging back, out of danger, and watched as clone after clone was destroyed by the one-man whirlwind. Naruto started whistling a tune as he crushed the one man army.

"Go new kid!" the cheer made the clones stop and look at the boy who yelled it. Kiba was standing now, and blushed when the attention turned onto him. "It's about time someone kicked this jerk's ass!" he yelled. Akamaru barked in agreement. Naruto grinned.

"Shut up dog boy! You're distracting him!" the blonde haired kunoichi screamed. "Come on, Naruto!" she added, cheering him on also.

"Bite me bimbo. Yeah! Naruto!" retorted Kiba, adding another cheer on at the end.

"I've never been cheered before," thought Naruto, smiling at the new feeling. "Usually it's the complete opposite." His good feeling was cut short when he noticed Kenji decide to silence the dog boy, with a kunai knife. Blood splattered onto the desk as the kunai tore through fabric, flesh and muscle. Silence reigned supreme in the class, only broken by a grunt of pain and heavy panting.

Kiba's mouth hung open as he stared at the back of the blonde haired boy who had taken the kunai for him. Instead of it piercing his neck, like planned, it was now lodged in Naruto's shoulder, rendering his left arm useless as nerves and muscles were severed. Kenji grinned at the result. It wasn't what he aimed for, but it was still a very good outcome for him. His clones took advantage of the situation and punched Naruto in the jaw, sending him flying across the room. A loud crack was heard when his fist connected with his face. Kyuubi had been watching calmly so far but when the kunai had struck Naruto he had gotten up fur bristling. As Naruto was flying across the room, he roared. Sasuke looked at the fox in surprise. He thought nothing fazed this thing, obviously he was wrong. Kyuubi ran over to Naruto, stood over his bleeding body and growled at the approaching enemy.

"Tut tut, Animals are forbidden in this exam. If your fur-ball attacks me, that's an instant fail." Kenji scolded in a sing-song voice, mocking the downed student. Kyuubi growled again, each of his tails fanning out behind him, hiding Naruto from view.

"Fang, that's enough," a voice ordered. Kyuubi looked over to where his 'name' was called and narrowed his eyes. The Hokage had finally arrived. "I do not know what has happened so far but if you interfere with this sparring match then Naruto will be failed immediately. Stand down." The Hokage said, authority ringing in every word. Kyuubi just growled and did not move.

"Seriously Fang, I know I'm your favourite person and all, but you're over-reacting. Go back to Sasuke.' Kyuubi turned around to discover his face was mere inches from Naruto's. "Ouch, my head hurts," he stated rubbing his jaw. "That was a helluva punch. Must've been infused with chakra of something," he stated. Kyuubi stopped growling. Looking him once over, he licked his face and ran back over to Sasuke, where he sat, but this time more alert to the fight.

Getting to his feet, he pulled the kunai out of his shoulder. Blood started pumping down his now useless arm. "Hey old-man is it within the rules of this fight to disable your opponent?" he asked the Sandaime. Everyone gasped at the blatant disrespect toward the village's most renowned ninja. The Hokage just ignored it.

"Yes, if you use taijutsu or kenjutsu." He answered calmly before turning to Iruka. 'I feel like watching the end of the gennin exams. Fetch me a chair." Iruka nodded and hurried to do his bidding, "Now continue on with the match!"

"It won't last that much longer," Naruto muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowed as he gazed at Kenji. Kenji had paled when the Hokage had stepped into the room, but was once again full of confidence as no-one could prove he had done anything wrong. Smirking, he faced his injured opponent once more, only to find he wasn't there anymore. The agonizing pain he felt on the back of his head was the only warning he had of his adversary moving. He was blown forward but was stopped just before he hit the ground by a sharp yanking feeling on his wrists. He was unable to shake the stars from his vision before Naruto got to his legs with the wires. He was now suspended, face-down in mid-air, by thin wires attached to kunai knives which had been stabbed into the walls. Naruto calmly walked up to his helpless prey and stood behind him.

"This is for the attempt to harm the innocent bystanders," He stated. His tone would have made icicles jealous for how cold it was. Sasuke never thought that such a happy-go-lucky guy could have such a voice as emotionless as this. Kyuubi was grinning like the fox he was when Naruto lifted his leg and kicked Kenji.

As hard as he could.

Right in the crown jewels.

Every male in the room was wincing as a definite squishy sound could be heard. The kunoichis laughed and cheered at this, making Naruto smile weakly. Naruto turned to the line of shinobi proctors, who were staring at him open-mouthed. "So, do I pass?" he inquired. Seeing as how all of his proctors were in a state of shock, no-one had ever dream of the day when Kenji would have been not only defeated, but totally humiliated, the Hokage made the announcement.

"Naruto passes both the taijutsu and kenjutsu portion of the gennin exam." He said in a clear voice. "Please go see a nurse for your injuries." He added as Naruto walked past him on his way back to his seat.

'Nah, I'm good. Fang can heal me," he grinned at the shocked expressions of his fellow classmates as he stated this fact. When he returned to his seat Kyuubi placed his nose on his shoulder and closed his eyes. Red chakra covered his shoulder, giving off a faint glow. Everyone in the class was watching intently as the wound began to heal. When Kyuubi removed his head, the only trace of the injury left was the tear in his clothes. Naruto thanked the fox before turning to face the front of the class. "So, who's next?"


	9. Chapter 8

The rest of the taijutsu and kenjutsu part of the gennin exam finished concluded without incident. That was, after they had revived everyone else from Kenji's blood-thirst. Naruto noticed that only the ones, who had managed to stay conscious, put on a good show. Sasuke was easily the best, excluding himself, passing the exam with flying colours, and knocking out his sparring partner. The shy girl shocked him when he discovered she was from the Hyuuga clan, her name was Hinata. The other two kunoichis, Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka he learned was their names, were pretty average with nothing really outstanding about them, but still above the others. The lazy guy, Shikamaru Nara who was sleeping, he suspected had a very high IQ. The guy who was constantly eating, Choji Akimichi, was incredibly strong. The one who had the smell of bugs _through_ him, called Shino Aburame, was very calm and accurate; no doubt a tracking ninja and the guy with the dog, Kiba Inuzuka, had a very strong natural instinct, very similar to his own.

"We will now commence with the final part of the exam. Please follow us to training room 4." Iruka instructed to the class. Naruto and Kyuubi got up to follow the rest of the class. They had no idea where they were going. When they arrived at training room 4, Naruto paused and admired the room. It was very large and spacious with high ceilings and timber floors, Ideal for sparring and target practice. On the other side of the room, were two gigantic double doors, Naruto couldn't think of a reason why they were so big.

"When we call your name please move to the centre of the room. There you will perform a transformation, escape and clone jutsu. A minimum of 3 clones is required. Once you have completed these tasks you may perform a jutsu of your choice to gain extra marks. First up, Sasuke Uchiha!" Sasuke walked up to the proctors calmly, no emotion on his face. "You may begin when you are ready," Iruka said, giving Sasuke room to perform his jutsu. Sasuke just nodded and started making the hand-signs for the transformation jutsu. As expected he did all of the required jutsu flawlessly. Naruto was curious to see what his extra credit jutsu would be; he was definitely above the rest so his jutsu must be fairly impressive.

As Naruto watched he made the hand-signs for Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger. "Hm, so it's a fire jutsu huh?" thought Naruto, just as Sasuke yelled

'Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Fire erupted from his mouth, as a massive ball of flame burst into life in front of him. Naruto was impressed. "Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire," he sang under his breath, causing Kyuubi to snort in amusement. Iruka was glad he gave the Uchiha room; otherwise he would've been barbequed. Extra crispy if the burn marks on the roof, walls and floor were any indication. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Thank-you Sasuke, please return to the others." Sasuke just huffed and walked back, trying his hardest to avoid the predictable onslaught of fan-girls. No such luck.

"Ommigawd Sasuke-kun! That was _amazing!"_

"You're such a suck up Sakura! I knew Sasuke-kun would do something this incredible, I never thought he could do anything less than mind-blowing!" gushed Ino. Naruto snorted in amusement. How he did **not **envy Sasuke at this moment. "Seems like he picked up another fan too," Naruto thought in his head. He had to hold a hand over his mouth to stop himself from bursting out with laughter. Kyuubi had run up to the young Uchiha and was now skipping circles around the boy. Sasuke eyed the fox before patting his head. Kyuubi gave a happy yip and continued to show his appreciation for the fire jutsu. That almost sent Naruto over the edge. His sides were shaking and his brain was fuzzy from the lack of oxygen. Kyuubi must have sensed that Naruto was suffering somehow and turned to look at the boy. He almost growled when he found out it was from laughing too hard.

"**And what do you think you're laughing at kit? Keep in mind your answer will affect the length of your life,"** Kyuubi growled menacingly in Naruto's mind, which only made Naruto laugh harder.

"Oh, nothing great and powerful fox demon," Naruto gasped when he finally controlled his mirth. "Just didn't know that seeing fire jutsu made you act like a fluffy kitten. I'll have to remember you have a fire fetish the next time I really piss you off." He managed to say before losing his control and fell to the ground in giggles. The class of on-lookers stared at him as if he grew a second head. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, Naruto noticed he did that a lot, probably did weights with it or something, whilst Kyuubi just growled. Iruka was surprised that the boy could laugh like that. After all the torture and beatings he went through, he would've expected the child to never smile again. But here he was, literally rolling on the floor with laughter. He smiled at the boy, happy that he could find joy in his life.

"We shall now continue on with the exams," One of the proctors stated clearly, interrupting Naruto's fit of laughter. "Next is Ryoma Walker." Naruto tuned out after that, only paying attention to the final jutsu of the ones that caught his eye. Again it was the ones he noticed earlier. Shikamaru performed a Shadow Possession Jutsu. Kiba did a drill like technique called Fang Over Fang. The Hyuuga girl showed off her Byakugan doujutsu. The loud Ino girl over-shadowed someone's mind and the very loud Sakura chick demonstrated perfect chakra control. The fat guy, Choji, expanded apart of his body whilst the quiet bug guy, Shino, summoned a swarm of, you guessed it, _bugs. _ Finally it was Naruto's turn. He was still undecided as to what he should perform for extra credit. As he stepped up to perform his jutsu, he noticed that everyone was paying attention to him. Even the slacker, Shikamaru, had an alert look on his face. Naruto sweat dropped.

"So much for lying low," he thought. He heard Kyuubi faintly chuckle in the back of his mind.

"**It's your fault for showing of earlier. Now, have you decided on your final jutsu?"**

"No! What should I do?! Should I summon the five guardians? Perform the Rasengan? Create a thousand shadow clones? I know! I'll do the Sexy Jutsu! That's bound to knock them out! Well at least the males any way, maybe I should add a guy for more impact...,"

"**STOP! Just stop there! I will not have my reputation tarnished from associating with someone who resorts to **_**that**_** to try and impress some other pathetic human! I thought that old woman raised you better!**

"That's it!" Naruto exclaimed in his mind. "I know the perfect thing!" Kyuubi was quiet as he viewed the idea forming in Naruto's mind. He gave a small purr of satisfaction at the choice. "Now I just need something to actually work on," he thought to himself. And for once, the universe delivered. Just as the idea formed in his head, a bird crashed into the window outside and dropped to the ground. "Fang! Fetch!" Naruto ordered out loud. Kyuubi gave a growl as he was referred to in a way that is usually favoured for dogs but went to do his master's bidding anyway.

"Naruto, you may proceed to perform a jutsu for extra credit," Iruka informed him. Naruto nodded and sat down in the middle of the room. Reaching into one of his pockets he pulled out a scroll. Opening it, he withdrew a handful of senbon needles and a scalpel. Everyone was quiet as they waited for something to happen.

"..."

"....."

"...... Hurry up already!" yelled an impatient Kiba. Naruto frowned.

"I'm waiting for Fang to return. I can't perform my jutsu until he gets back with what I need." Just as the words left his mouth, another ball of fire erupted in the centre of the room. "Seriously, the thing you have for fire is getting a little creepy,' Naruto muttered under his breath, just out of Kyuubi's hearing. He then stared at the fox and instantly knew why he had taken so long. "I only needed one bird you stupid furball! Not a hundred of them!" he yelled at the fox. Kyuubi just shrugged his shoulders as he dragged the piece of material covered in numerous feathered bodies, over to Naruto.

"Naruto, what are you going to do with all of those birds?!" asked a very confused Iruka. Each of the birds was injured in some way. Some had broken wings, others had gashed across their stomachs from different predators, but most had broken necks and were paralysed, most likely from what the first bird had done and flown into a window.

"I'm going to heal them," He said simply. "Can someone open the doors?" he asked looking at one of the other proctors. He nodded and headed over to the large double doors on the other side of the training room. Naruto turned his attention back to his patients, ignoring the disbelieving stares he was receiving from his fellow classmates. He pulled some more senbon needles out of his scroll and threaded a wire through the ends of each connecting them all. When he had threaded enough needles for each bird he closed his eyes and concentrated. Everyone in the room could feel the build up of chakra. Naruto started to glow a faint red as each of his needles were lifted into the air by the string that now pulsed with his chakra. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and each needle buried itself in a feathered body. Students gasped as the needles pierced the already wounded birds. Sakura was shocked anyone could be so cruel.

"Hey! Don't hurt them! Quick, we can take them to a vet!" she shouted out running to stop Naruto from further torturing the poor creatures. She was stopped halfway to her target by Kyuubi. "Out of my way you stupid fox!" she screamed at the kitsune. Kyuubi growled at her and refused to move.

"Oi, Haruno, shut up. Just watch."

Sakura turned to see Sasuke glaring at her, before retuning his attention to the blonde sitting in the middle of the floor. Naruto's eyes were glazed and had not noticed the outburst. The pulsing sting of chakra was now being channelled into the bird's bodies by the senbon needles. Each animal connected to the string was engulfed in red light. Naruto brought his hands together and did a series of hand-signs so quickly; none could follow with the naked eye.

"Chiyu Style: Kitsune Reiki!" he yelled and yanked on the thread, pulling all of the needles out of every bird. The result was instantaneous. Immediately the flock of birds took flight, flying as high as the ceiling would allow them. Kyuubi turned and yipped at them before running out the door. The flock of birds turned and followed the fox out to freedom. Naruto got up and stretched, burying the morbid memory that arose from hearing the sound of many birds. "Haven't healed that many in a while. Kaa-san would be disappointed." He thought then turned to the proctors and smirked at their expressions. Iruka had his mouth hanging open so far it was almost hitting the floor.

The proctor who had opened the door had dropped his clipboard and the other one had lost the ability to stand properly. Naruto just shrugged and returned to the other students, who gave him a wide berth, like he was some deity that had graced them all with his presence. Sasuke just stared at the blonde boy, his face not revealing any of his actual mind state; complete astonishment. When Naruto walked over to him, he just nodded as if he saw this thing every day. Naruto grinned and leaned against the wall to wait for the results of the gennin exams.

* * *

Just to clear up a few confused people. Chiyu: Kitsune Reiki is my own creation. Chiyu means healing, cure and recovery. I didnt know the style that medic ninjas used so i made my own. kitsune is of course fox and reiki is kinda like the universal healing force. like Yoda but only for boo-boos. so it translates roughly to RECOVERY/CURE STYLE: FOX HEALING FORCE!. =D thanx 4 reading


	10. Chapter 9

hey guys! so sorry for the late update!! lifes a bitch and writers Block seriously sucks! Im still open for any pairing ideas anyone has. Just clearing up a few people's questions, many people are wondering why Naruto even decided to come back to the village and why Tsunade encouraged it after all the shit he's was put through as a child, well the answer is in the flashbacks that are coming. There is method to my madness and everything that seems weird or completely irrelevant and/or stupid is there for a reason ^^ you also find out in the next (not this one sorry!!) chapter how and why Iruka knows Naruto and how the 3rd Hokage was nice to Naruto. Special shout out to Griffin Blackwood and Hektols for reviewing _every _chapter and giving me feedback ^^ u guys are legendary

Thanx sooo much for the reviews

Pa0lini

* * *

Naruto walked along the main street of the village, with Kyuubi at his side. He needed to find someplace to train; he was very out of shape if healing a few dozen birds took as long as it did before. He didn't want to do it around his house in case he drew anymore unnecessary attention to himself. He felt a pang of sadness as he thought about the results of the exam.

...

It had shocked him, but everyone had passed. Naruto frowned when he heard this. If every academy graduate was becoming a ninja, then the Leaf's military force would be much greater than it is now. "There must be another test when they select teams," he thought as the entire class erupted in cheers. He then turned his attention back to Iruka who was giving each student their scores. Each student got a mark out of 100 for each section of the exam. Naruto only paid attention to the people who he had actually bothered to remember the names of.

**"Shikamaru: **Written - 95, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu - 67. Ninjutsu – 72

**Hinata: **Written - 69, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 73, Ninjutsu – 71

**Ino: **Written - 58, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 62, Ninjutsu – 65

**Sakura:** Written – 97, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 55, Ninjutsu - 56

**Sasuke:** Written – 99, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 100, Ninjutsu - 100

**Kiba:** Written – 52, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 87, Ninjutsu - 84

**Shino: **Written – 88, Taijutsu/kenjutsu – 63, Ninjutsu - 91

**Choji: **Written - 58, Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 61, Ninjutsu - 68"

This only confirmed Naruto's thought about them earlier, though he was surprised that the Sakura girl was so smart. When it was time for Naruto's results to be called out, he noticed that everyone was paying attention. Obviously the guy who kicked the shit out of Kenji would get a good mark

**"Naruto: **Written – 100 + 10, for pointing out a mistake on the paper, correcting it and answering in full with extra detail. Taijutsu/Kenjutsu – 100 + 10, for going against an opponent who used ninjutsu and still stuck to the restrictions given beforehand. Ninjutsu – 100."

Everyone was stunned. Nobody had gotten a perfect score since the child genius Itachi Uchiha, not to mention the extra marks! Naruto just shrugged and continued stroking Kyuubi, who was happily sprawled on his desk.

"Class is dismissed. Come here tomorrow at 0700 and you will be put into your teams." Iruka announced before leaving. Naruto had a moment of peace before he felt the enormous killing intent behind him. Turning, he saw Sakura and Ino staring daggers at him.

"What?" he asked, slightly unnerved by their glare.

"How _dare _you!" they screeched in unison. "How dare you beat Sasuke?! Sasuke is the best so he should have received the best mark! You shouldn't out do him loser! You only got better than him because the teachers were nice on the new kid! Don't get cocky jerk! Next time he'll beat you!" Naruto's ears were almost bleeding when they finished. He turned, looked at Sasuke and quirked a brow. Silently asking, "wtf?!" Sasuke just shrugged, silently replying "I've learned to ignore them, not my problem." He got up to leave, ignoring his incredibly loud following.

"See?! Now he's in a bad mood! Stay away from us from now on, jerk!"

"Yeah, just leave us alone!"

"Why did you make Sasuke-kun hate us?!"

"Just go die!" The fan-girls harped at him. Naruto's eyes widened, before he plastered his face with a bright fake smile. Kyuubi growled at the girls, and stalked towards them menacingly.

"Don't Fang." He said with false happiness, rising from his chair. "It's ok," He headed towards the door passing Sasuke on his way, who was staring at the emotions playing in Naruto's eyes. As Naruto passed him, he heard the blonde boy mutter, "I'm used to it anyway," Sasuke raised his eyebrows at this statement and was about to talk to the boy, but he had walked out of the class. He stared at the spot where the blonde haired boy just was, wondering what that kid had endured to give his eyes such a look of sadness and suffering. But what really surprised him was the depth of the loneliness he saw... just like him. His attention was diverted when he heard a scream.

Fang was advancing on the girls still, he noticed. The fox's blood red eyes held nothing but contempt and hatred for the panicky females. His teeth were bared, as if the animal could only dream of burying them in the flesh of the screechy kunoichi. Sasuke sighed. He would have to stop him, otherwise the fox would kill them and he liked the creature, though he would never admit it, but he knew if he did stop the enraged fox the girls would fawn over him even more, thinking he cared enough about them to save them. He sighed again; he was such a self-sacrificing child he thought to himself.

"Fang, Naruto has left without you," he simply stated before heading out the class. Fang looked up and saw his master wasn't there. He gave the girls one last hunger filled look before bursting into flames and disappearing.

"Sasuke-kun is so brave....."

...

Naruto sighed. "I shouldn't let things like that get to me. I should be used to it by now," but no matter how much he thought this, he still felt like a whole had been torn through his heart. Kyuubi looked up at the boy and saw a look on his face that was all too familiar to him. Naruto had automatically placed that overly-bright smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. Although he would never admit it, even to himself, this frightened Kyuubi more than anything else. The fake smile hid the turmoil of emotions the boy was feeling on the inside. When like this, he's almost like a different person. Naruto sighed.

"Well, let's find that training spot. Wouldn't want kaa-san to get disappointed in me," his smile became more genuine as he thought of his adoptive mother. It was days like today that Kyuubi was thankful to all the demon lords in Hell, that the violent women found Naruto that day.

"Who knows what would have happened if she hadn't," he thought remembering that painful day.

_Flashback_

Naruto slowly and painfully returned to consciousness. Every muscle in his body was screaming at him in pain. Every nerve and fibre of his being felt like it was on fire, never had he ever wished for death more. Tears gathered in his eyes as the pain increased, if that was even possible at this point. He could not move, could not shift himself in any way to alleviate the mind-numbing pain. A whimper escaped his throat that caught the attention of the near-by women, who Naruto had not noticed due to the pain.

"You're awake?! You should still be in a coma for another month at least!" she exclaimed as she started checking his vitals. Naruto remained silent; except for the small groans and gasps of pain he was unable to suppress. "Can you tell me your name?" she asked kindly. Naruto gazed at her with his once bright blue eyes, so full of life, now dead and listless.

The woman had blond hair, tied back into two pigtails. On her forehead was a purple diamond set above two intelligent looking chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a loose grey cross-over top, that showed off her well-endowed chest, and a green coat overtop with three-quarter length blue pants. As he took in her appearance the woman frowned from his lack of an answer, and tried a different tactic. "My name is Tsunade. I come from the Leaf village. Where do you come from?" she asked gently, hoping that telling something about her will get the boy to speak to her. How wrong she was. Naruto's eyes widened in recognition and the dead look in his eyes was lost as fear filled them. Tsunade was shocked at his reaction, She was about to say something else but never got the chance. Naruto jumped up and ran out of the room. "Have to get away from her. Have to get away from her. Have to get away from her." The sentence kept repeating itself in his head as he burst through the front door of the building and out of the house and onto the street. Many people walking by stopped and stared at him as he pushed through the crowd, away from the leaf woman "When she figures out who I am she'll try and hurt me like everyone else from that place!" he thought desperately. The adrenaline pumped through his veins as fear gave him the energy to keep running. He felt something warm running down his stomach and legs. He looked down and saw blood pouring from the wound that had yet to heal. His legs started to feel shaky as his stride turned from running to stumbling. Pain coursed steadily through him, his eye sight started to blur and black appeared on the edges of his vision. He heard a shout. Naruto looked behind him and saw the blond woman running after him. Fear took over and replaced the pain momentarily as he ducked behind a tree hiding from the woman. He closed his eyes and covered his head with his hands, silently begging to whatever god up there that obviously liked screwing with his life that she would run right by him. No such luck.

"What the HELL do you think you are doing brat?!" she screamed at him when she found him behind the tree. "Do you know how lucky you are to be alive?! Do you know how long I spent trying to heal your ungrateful ass?! And what do you do?! You fucking run away the moment your conscious!! You shouldn't even be awake let alone running down the street like the fucking devil himself is after you!!" Naruto cowered beneath the angry woman's gaze, still in the foetal position. He body was racked with shivers of fear as he awaited the beating that the woman was sure to deliver. Tears ran unbidden down his cheeks, making the lines on his face stand out. Tsunade noticed his position and looked at his eyes which were wide open and glazed over in fear. Immediately regretting berating the child she crouched down beside him. "Hey, hey. No need to be scared. I was just worried you would hurt yourself," she said soothingly reaching for the boy. Naruto flinched when he felt her hand smooth back his hair from his face, but allowed the action, subconsciously leaning into the warmth of her hand which wasn't lost in the rain. 'There, there, it's gonna be ok. Everything will be fine," Tsunade kept up the words of comfort as she watched Naruto's eyes droop. Just before sleep claimed him, he leaned more into Tsunade's warmth and collapsed against her. Tsunade's eyes widened as she barely heard the fear stained words Naruto whispered as he fell unconscious.

"Please make the pain stop...."


	11. Chapter 10

Heya guys! Miss me? No? Oh well worth a try ^^ im back with another chappie! Woooo! Yea, u see? U like me now =P in this chapter, due to many people's comments, I have made it so that various questions are answered, like how he knows Iruka, and how Naruto is so smart and coherent as a 3 yr old and how the village can treat him so. You learn about Tsunade in later chapters and also more of Naruto's past. ^^ just a warning, this is still in flashback mode from the last chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

The first thing Naruto noticed was the smell. It was horrible. It was worse than his apartment on the weeks the villagers decided to cut off his power and water. The second thing was that he was lying in water. That's where the foul stench was coming from. Naruto got up slowly and took in his surroundings. "Well that explains the smell," he thought to himself. He was in what appeared to be a large underground room with sewer pipes running to and from it. When he took a closer look at the pipes he noticed a red glow flowing through them. It was neither solid, liquid nor gas but moved fluently and at a steady pace. "It's almost like when the villagers left me at the tip and wouldn't let me leave until the old-man Hokage found out and made them." He thought to himself. A thin layer of water covered the floor, making each step he took sound with a splash. As he walked the room he noticed the walls were cracking and in some places had crumbled away completely. When he looked beyond the wall all he saw was darkness, but somehow within that darkness he felt pain, suffering and sadness. He flinched away from the broken wall and walked to the end of the room where large, thick bars that ran from the ceiling to floor were positioned. As he walked up to these bars he noticed that they formed doors, and in the centre of these doors along the sealing where the two sides meet was a slip of paper that said the words "**SEAL**". "I wonder what this is" he asked himself and reached to touch the slip of paper.

"**Don't touch that kit!" **A voice roared. Naruto immediately cowered into a ball and covered his head with his hands, waiting for the pain that was sure to follow. When it didn't come he raised his head, and immediately wished he hadn't. A colossal face stared down at him with blood-red eyes and fur that was an even deeper red. Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the beast. Its gigantic, yet elegant body was gracefully curved in a lying down position that reminded him greatly of a cat. Its paws were neatly placed in front of it and lethal claws were attached. Behind him his fluffy tail swung back and forth, with another, and another.

"What?" he thought as he counted the creature's tails. "Nine... t-theres nine of them. That means h-he's..." He stared opened mouth at the animal that was undoubtedly the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox that had attacked and almost destroyed the Leaf village 3 years ago.

"**Do you know who I am, boy?"** the creature rumbled.

"Yes" said Naruto calmly. His astonishment was gone replaced only but calm acceptance. "You're the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked the village."

"**Then why are you not afraid?"**

"Cause the worst you can do to me, is kill me. Even then it's better than my life right now." Kyuubi was stunned. Never before had a creature approached him, not fearing death. This boy must truly have no love of life, to accept death in this way. He growled with hatred at the Leaf village.

"**And what of the woman who saved you?"** he rumbled. "**She did not hurt you, nor did she shun you like those other pathetic wretches that call themselves human"** Naruto thought back to the busty blonde that had saved him from the hole in his stomach and had momentarily comforted him while he wept from his wounds and fear. He wondered what she would do if he were to die? He shivered as he remembered her reaction to him running away whilst still injured. He smiled at the thought that someone would notice and maybe care a little if he were to suddenly no longer exist on this earth. The Kyuubi smiled, as well as a fox could, at the boy's small happiness. But that smile quickly vanished as the boy's aura quickly darkened.

"She will hurt me when she finds out who I am, she will be like the rest of them" he muttered. Kyuubi frowned. He had suspected this too, but he was able to sense from the woman, a grudge against the Leaf village more developed than Naruto's. He also smelt faint traces of the one who put him in here, The Fourth Hokage. Knowing the reasons behind his sealing in the boy, the Kyuubi knew that he would shun the very village he led if he ever knew about the way the townsfolk treated the boy.

"**You can trust her. She will make sure no harm comes to you," **the giant fox rumbled, trying to sooth the boy who was slowly going into hysterics.

"She will be like the rest, she will hurt me too, she'll try to kill me, she'll call me a monster, she'll want me to die" Naruto was crouching on the floor of the sewer, ignoring the fox. His eyes were wide, and he was muttering to himself the same types of things over and over. He started to shake violently. Kyuubi noticed the already deteriorated walls of the sewer; break down even more as the boys mind started to break. Alarmed for the safety of the kit, he sent out his chakra to try and calm the child. The minuter the red glow touched the boy, his eyes widened even further. "You're the one who heals me....." he realized as he felt the familiar, warm and comforting presence.

"**I am,"** the fox admitted to the child with as much regal dignity as he could muster. Thinking this would calm the boy and make him realise he could trust the fox, Kyuubi started to relax, thinking the danger was over.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?" the child screamed at him, Kyuubi's ears lay flat against his head as the boy's anger was directed at him. 'WHY WOULDN'T YOU LET ME DIE? I WANTED TO DIE, EACH AND EVERY TIME THEY TOUCHED ME!" The sewer started to shake as the boys anger grew with each breath. The walls and roof cracked and crumbled as Naruto's mind was starting to break. He hadn't felt this angry at the world since the masked men the third sent to make sure he was safe from the villagers, his 'watchers", decided to get drunk and play spin the bottle. Though it wasn't kisses they were giving to each other, it was slowly and painfully taking turns to satisfy their sexual desires and sadistic pleasures with him. He was 14 months old, he remembered, although he looked like he was 4. That was another thing the villagers held against him. His strange way of maturing in both body and mind at an exceptionally fast rate. Right now he was 3 years old, but looked like he was 7. It's probably why the villagers never felt like they were doing wrong in beating a _baby_, because he was never a baby for long, the way his life was he lost any and all innocence he possessed and matured as fast as possible. "Then it's also YOU who made me grow-up so fast!" he screamed at the fox. Kyuubi nodded quickly, unsure of where the direction of this conversation was taking them. As Naruto remembered the villagers and his life for the past 3 years of his young life, he lost it.

He screamed and roared at the same time. His blood curling cry of pain, rage and hatred echoed in every corner of the room. The Kyuubi was genuinely scared for the boy, his own regard for life paled in comparison to the need he felt to protect the child. His mind scrambled to think of a way to stop the child from destroying himself, from the inside out. He thought back to the question that was screamed at him before the blonde started to mentally breakdown.

"**Because your father asked me to protect you,"** he didn't shout, he didn't yell, he didn't raise his voice at all but it cut though Naruto's traumatized screams and dominated the sound in the room. Naruto's screams stopped as his mind processed what the fox had said. His father. His father. His _father. _Naruto brought his bright blue eyes up to meet the intense blood-red eyes that stared down at him. He did not know how he knew, but he did. The fox was not lying to him. The blood-red eyes looking down at him filled with relief as he realized the boy had stopped destroying himself. "**Your father sealed me within you and before he passed on he asked me to look after you as he couldn't. I respected your father greatly and was the only that had gained my favour. Though we were forced into combat against my will, I know he did the only thing he could think of to protect you and keep you safe." **Kyuubi explained to the stunned child. Naruto was trying to sort his thoughts as his brain was barraged with this new information. His father loved him. His father died for him. His father wanted to protect him. He wasn't abandoned. His father_ loved _him. This one thought brought immense happiness to him. He started to wonder what man his father was like. He was obviously very kind and caring by the way the Kyuubi sounded. Wait... the Kyuubi. He said his father had sealed him into Naruto. But the only one who ever fought the Nine-tailed fox was...

'The Fourth Hokage..." he whispered. Kyuubi grinned with pride at the boy when he figured out who his old man was mere minutes after he talked to him. 'My father was the Forth Hokage. The freaking _Yondaime?_ Are you serious? Why didn't anyone tell me? Why did they beat the crap outta me when I'm the son of the fucking _Hokage?"_ Naruto yelled. "How could he do this to his own _son?_" the Kyuubi flinched and frowned when he heard the child swearing. 'No doubt the result of all of them villagers yelling at him every day,' he thought to himself. His unhappiness at the childs language however was quickly forgotten when the boy continued on with his rant. "Here I thought he was a decent person from what you told me! How could he put me through that hell? Why would he let them do the things they did to me? WHY?"

"**He did it to save you!" **the Kyuubi roared, raising his voice for the first time, effectively quietening the boy who look up at him with a hint of fear at the volume and tone of his voice. "**He knew that going out to face me would end his life! He knew that if he died you would be all alone! You mother died in child-birth due to not having any medics around when you were born! They were all off healing the fucking ninjas that were torturing you! He **_**knew **_**that once you were born the council and the heads of the clans would try to take you in and corrupt you so they could gain even more power! This was the only way he could protect you! He **_**knew**_**. He sealed me in you so you would have enough power to protect yourself and to one day follow in his footsteps, become Hokage and protect the wretches of that miserable village! He wanted you to be strong enough to face your enemies. The only thing the fool didn't know was that your enemies were the ones he was protecting." **Kyuubi ended his grand lecture scoffing at the Fourth's mindless trust in people. Naruto was shocked. His mother didn't hate him and leave him either. She gave her life so he could live his. He was loved. His father did all of that, for _him._ He gave him power that many couldn't dream of. He wanted him to follow in his footsteps and... Naruto frowned. The happiness that had been growing in him soon dissipated. 'If that is all true, then why do the villagers hate me so?'

"**Because they do not know." **The Kyuubi answered his unasked question. Being inside of him had its perks, like reading his mind.** "Your father hoped that they would see you as the hero of the village, the one who holds back the demon, the one who stops me from running wild and murdering them all. But all they know is that you are the vessel of the Demon Lord Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox. But they do not see you as the jailer; they see you as if you were the prisoner that you hold; a demon and fear you because of it. They hate you because they know the Fourth lost his life in sealing me in you and therefore blame you for his death. He was a well loved and brave man and many were devastated when he passed. This fear and hatred bred the life that you live now. They are ignorant, pathetic excuses for life-forms and should suffer a thousand deaths for what they put you through,"** the Kyuubi's voice slowly grew more and more menacing and blood-thirsty as he neared the end of his speech, although it slightly softened when it spoke of the Fourth. Naruto simply stared. His life was the way it was because of _ignorance? _They did not know anything?

"Why? Why did it get covered up? Why didn't anyone find out? Surely there was something left so that my father's last wishes were done!" Naruto asked the fox who looked at him sadly. Oh, he knew why. He could see everything that had happened after his battle from inside the boy. He knew of the man with the cross shaped scar on his chin, that commanded none of the incident ever escaped. He wanted Naruto to be used as a weapon but if that failed, he wanted him dead. No-one else was allowed to have this power but him. The image of that man standing over the Fourth's body and kicking it was still burned into Kyuubi's mind. His forehead and right eye were covered in bandages. His right arm was hidden beneath his clothes whilst the other clutched a cane. As Kyuubi was thinking of the thousands of possible ways to eat this man Naruto was still staring up at him waiting for an answer.

"Oi! Furball! Answer me!" He demanded. This brought the fox out of his fantasies. He looked at the blonde incredulously.

"**WHAT did you call me?"**

Naruto tilted his head to the side and grinned impishly up at him. "I called you furball. And you still haven't answered my question!" The fox couldn't take it. He laughed. Naruto stared at the fox, uncertain whether or not it had lost its sanity.

"**You are the first person I've ever met that has had the nerve to call me by such a name!"** Kyuubi gasped out when he had gained some control over his laughter. "**You are strong brat. I am glad I was sealed in someone like you. At least things will be interesting, especially now when you are able to hear me. Unfortunately our time is up and you must sleep."**

Naruto was startled to hear this, his previous question long forgotten. "Do I have to leave? Can't I stay here? It doesn't hurt and you're nice to me," he whimpered, sounded every bit the 3 year he was. "I don't wanna go back. The nightmares will come again and when I wake up that lady will hurt me when she finds out and then I'll have to run and I have nowhere to go." Kyuubi smiled sadly down at the boy.

"**You don't realize do you?" **he asked softly. Naruto looked back at him in confusion. "**We are in your own mind. This is your subconscious. I will always be here. I will never leave kit. I will always be listening and watching out for you. Whenever you need me, I will be there. The nightmares will not come tonight."** Rumbled the fox as kindly it was possible to rumble. Naruto smiled as warmth flooded him. Unaware to him, the walls of the sewer started to mend themselves as the Kyuubi spoke. Cracks and holes still littered the room, but it was definitely better than before. Naruto started to fade from the dim room as he slowly made his way into the realm of unconsciousness. Before he opened his eyes he heard the fox growl something else.

"**The woman will not hurt you kit"**


	12. Chapter 11

Hey guys! sorry its been soooo long since I've updated! The evil overlords of the prison they call work and uni decided to make my life a living hell and i havent been able to write at all! T.T but heres another chappie and hopefully the next one will come along shortly! Enjoy! XD

Pa0lini

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Naruto slowly woke from the dream he was having. It was the first good dream he's had in months. The last time was when Iruka, the only one of his "watchers" that actually did what the third asked of them, had taken him out for ramen and because he was there, he didn't get his usual beatings that night. As he returned to the land of wakefulness the first thing he noticed was that he was warm... and comfy... and he felt safe. He frowned in confusion, eyes still closed. He started fighting the force that was making him wake up. He wanted to stay like this, on the verge of unconsciousness, warm and safe. But he couldn't fight it anymore and his eyes sleepily blinked as he left the realm of dreams. He was lying in a bed. An actual bed. With a mattress, pillows, blankets and everything. Naruto sat up slowly and stared in wonder at the luxury he had never experienced before. His bed in the village consisted of a flattened cardboard box with his clothes serving as a pillow. He had taken down the curtain of the small apartment and used that as a quilt. He touched the soft blankets that covered him with cautious fingers, as if any quick movement would make them disappear. He marvelled at the smooth, soft texture of the fabrics that covered him. As he was reaching round to feel the feather soft pillow that was behind his head, he noticed that his arms were covered in bandages. Further inspection of his body revealed more of the cotton fabric was wrapped around his body. He frowned slightly, usually his wounds were gone by the time he noticed them after being injured. But for some reason, this time they weren't going away as quickly. He still could feel dull throbs of pain coming from his stomach, and blood had started to flow from the cuts that were torn open when he moved. He hissed in pain when he tried to see under the bandages.

"Cut that out, brat!" a familiar voice yelled at him. He turned to see the busty woman standing in the doorway of the room. She had a frown on her face that seemed like it was there often. "I just got that closed up! And now you're opening it again!" Naruto scooted to the far side of the bed, as far from the woman as possible. Fear coursed through his veins as he looked at his potential new tormenter. Tsunade frowned at his response. Sure she was scary to people, but this kid didn't know that, yet. He shouldn't have this kind of response to strangers. Plus those wounds he had, they weren't from an accidental fall. They were ninjutsu from a very well trained shinobi, full with the intent to kill this child. She immediately felt an immense hatred for whatever lowlife that did this to such a young boy. She shook her head, ridding it of all the psychotic thoughts that were playfully filling her mind, and put a smile on her face before turning to address the scared child again. It quickly disappeared though when she couldn't find the brat. "Oi! Where did you go?" she asked the seemingly empty room. As she started to search the room for the missing boy, he watched her with fear filled eyes though the doors of his hiding place, the closet. The minute her attention had deviated from him and to her thoughts he had hid. His body shook with the familiar tremors of fear as the woman got closer to discovering him. He knew that hiding would probably make the punishment worse but he couldn't help it. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that he was being stupid and can trust the woman, but his overwhelming fear and instinct for self-preservation squashed the voice quickly.

Tsunade noticed the doors to the closet shaking. As she neared them the shaking grew more intense and she knew she found her patient. She quickly thought of how to handle the boy who was obviously scared of her. As she pretended to continue to look for the boy, she pondered this predicament. She usually didn't really care about her patient's personal life, so why was she trying so hard with this kid? She questioned herself. She had learned the hard way that caring about people only led to pain. Tears came unbidden into her eyes as she thought of her lost brother and lover. She suddenly stopped as that one stray thought unleashed a torrent of memories in her head. The tears that she had been holding at bay on the edges of her eyes flowed freely down her face. She sat suddenly on the floor, her legs not having the strength to carry her anymore, as she let the tears and memories overtake her.

Naruto continued to watch the woman who was crying on the middle of the floor. An inkling of curiosity and sadness cut through his fear as her body was racked with the sobs that tore from her. She had suddenly stopped and her eyes filled with an immense sadness and loneliness that he was familiar with before suddenly collapsing on the floor and crying. Did he do something to make her like this? He asked himself. Was he to blame? He may not trust anyone and fear everyone, but he would never wish for him to be the cause of anyone's pain and tears. Her eyes looked so lost. Unknown to him, as he was lost in his thoughts, he had opened the door to the closet and had slowly crept towards the woman. He did not realise what he had done until one of the floorboards had creaked under his weight and Tsunade's head whipped up to face him. He face was stained with the tears that still ran free down her cheeks, her eyes were red and puffy, but what Naruto noticed the most were her eyes. Sadness, loneliness, guilt, anger and pain were swirling through the chocolate orbs that gazed at him. Naruto didn't think, he ran to the woman and hugged her, burying his face into her chest and wrapping his small arms around her. Tsunade stared down at the blond mass of spiky hair that was buried in her shirt with surprise and shock. Still thinking that he had made her cry Naruto started to speak, his voice muffled by her shirt.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. My fault. I'm sorry." He kept repeating. Tsunade was confused as to why he was apologizing before realising how it must have looked from his point of view. A small smile graced her lips as she lifted her hand and patted his head. The moment her hand brushed Naruto's head, his eyes snapped open and he realized what he was doing. Instantly he scooted away from her until his back slammed against the wall, fear evident in his expression. Tsunade was at a loss. He had suddenly tried to comfort her and then ran away when she touched him. She studied the boy as he tried to melt into the wall. He was obviously very kind and caring, but must have had some horrible experiences to have developed this kind of reaction to strangers. He must think she was going to hurt him for some reason. But how to stop him from trying to make the wall a permanent part of himself? Thinking quickly, she turned to face the boy, hands on her lap in plain sight and stopped crying.

"Thank you," she said softly to the cowering child. Naruto's body jerked as if lightning had struck him. He stared at the woman thinking he misheard her. He had never been thanked before. He had dreamed of it, to make someone so happy that they thank him for it, that he could be of use to someone was his ultimate dream. And here this woman was, unintentionally making his dream come true. It had to be a mistake. Dreams are dreams because they don't come true. That's what he always thought.

Tsunade studied the conflict of emotions rushing across the child's face. Disbelief, incredible joy and happiness, sadness, caution, and finally doubt.

'He must think that he misheard me or something' she thought to herself. Thinking to qualm his doubts she said it again.

"Thank you for comforting me child." She said again, making sure her voice was clear but not overly loud as to startle the boy. She watched as his eyes widened to impossible size as he registered her words were not false. Warmth blossomed in his chest that he was unaccustomed to at her thanks. His cheeks hurt as he smiled, not used to the muscle movement. Tsunade's jaw almost dropped as recognition hit her like her fist usually does Jiraya. The blonde hair, blue eyes and now the enormous cheesy grin that was plastered on his face... _Minato... _He barely heard her whisper,

"_Naruto...?"_


	13. Chapter 12

Hello my faithful minions *cough* um, I mean, readers... hehehe ^^ I'm back with another wonderful chapter! And so soon too! Hooray for the author! Ok enough about me; let's get back to my story. It's longer than the others so far so hopefully you'll enjoy it! Please review! Thank you to everyone who had decided to follow the story and reviewed :D this is all for you guys XD

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_End Flashback, Present Day_

"Today I will announce the names of the gennin groups and the jounin that will be leading your squad." Iruka's voice broke through the babble of the students in the class. Everyone was excited. Today they would become a part of a ninja squad and work for the village. Naruto sighed, he didn't really care about the groups, he had another reason to be here and that was all that mattered, otherwise he would never consider seeing this cesspit again. He sighed again. He was in a bad mood so his thoughts had taken a darker turn than usual. He had another nightmare last night about his life before leaving this village. If it wasn't for Kyuubi he probably would've destroyed his entire house before realising where he was. Usually kaa-san was there and calmed him down without even having to wake him. He hated it when Kyuubi had to force his way into his head to fight his memories, it always gave him a headache, another reason for his crappy mood. He sighed again.

"What's up with you?" a voice broke through his musings. Sasuke looked over at the usually peppy blonde boy, his face still that expressionless mask he seemed to wear when other people were around. The only clue that he was worried about Naruto was the gleam in his eye. At a closer look there was also a strong gleam of curiosity. Naruto smirked grimly, of course no one would care about what he was feeling, only curiosity to fill the boredom of waiting for the groups to be decided. A sigh escaped his lips which only made the gleam in Sasuke's eyes brighter.

"Just a headache, nothing to worry about," he said flippantly, and turned to pay attention to the groups. He missed the first couple but managed to catch the last few.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Naruto S-," a growl cut off Iruka before Naruto's last name could be heard. Iruka looked up to see Naruto and 'Fang' glaring at him in an obvious "keep your mouth SHUT' look. Sasuke observed this in interest. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know Naruto's last name or clan allegiance, and clearly Naruto didn't want it known.

'I wonder why?" he thought to himself as he watch Iruka clearly get the silent message. Well we are on the same team as him so it should be interesting to discover. His plans for uncovering Naruto's secrets however were stopped in their track like a steam train had hit him when a screechy voice pierced the air.

"YAY! Love wins above everything! See Ino-pig? Sasuke and I were meant to be together!" Sakura screamed out in joy, oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. Sasuke sweat dropped, he would have preferred the train...

"Ahem, anyway, Team 7 includes Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto, the jounin in charge of you shall be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka said getting everyone's attention again. Naruto froze. "Team 8 will include Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga; your jounin shall be Kurenei Yuhi. Team 9 is still in active duty, so Team 10 will be comprised of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka; you jounin is Asuma Sarutobi." Naruto was barely paying attention, his mind was racing.

'Kakashi?' he thought. 'Why him? I don't know if I can handle being around him, especially after what he did to him in the past. I still have the scar from his attack. The lightning haunts my dreams. What do I do?' his mind was tearing itself apart as doubt raged through his mind.

Kyuubi had heard the name and growled inaudibly in recognition. He felt Naruto's body stiffen and he smelt the unbridled fear coming from his kit. He looked up and saw his eyes were wide and he had started to shake. Kyuubi whined trying to reassure the boy, but it went unheard as terror seized the child.

"**Calm down kit!" ** He yelled in his mind, but it was no use, his fear had taken hold. Naruto's chakra had started to flare as memories played throughout his mind. He heard the birds, saw the lightning and felt the fist through his gut over and over again. Kyuubi didn't know what to do; he couldn't let Naruto lose himself here! People would die! He really didn't care about the class of students, if he had it his way, they would have burned in hell a long time ago, but if Naruto killed them all he would be sent away from the village and hunted down and then there would have been no reason to come here! All this pain and confusion would have been for nothing! He growled in frustration and did the only thing that came to his mind. Hit bit him, hard.

The flash of pain broke through his memories as the smell of blood hit his nostrils. He looked down to see Kyuubi looking up at him, worry and regret evident in his gaze as his sharp fangs pierced the flesh of his hand. A whimper came out, muffled by his hand. Naruto smiled sadly down at the fox.

'Thank-you Kyuubi, for stopping me..." he whispered in his mind. Kyuubi let go of his hand and licked the wound in regret, instantly healing it. Unknown to them, a pair of onyx eyes had witnessed all that had passed between them, from the second the name of their new mentor was uttered.

'What could have made him so scared? He was thinking. 'He faced Kenji without so much as a flicker of fear, yet there mere mention of a name made him freeze over in terror! This jounin may be useful in helping me achieve my goal,' Sasuke thought, content with the placing of his team, Sakura excluded. She would only slow him down; the others might actually be helpful.

The class waited in silence as each of the jounin came to collect their new students, until only team 7 were left. Naruto was distracting himself with Kyuubi when he felt a flare of chakra from the rooftop. He blood ran cold as he recognized the energy signature. The others had clearly not noticed it as Sasuke was too involved in his thoughts and Sakura too involved in trying to get his attention. Their new sensei obviously wanted them to sense his chakra and head to the rooftop, but he didn't want to see Kakashi that soon, it didn't hurt that his was ignoring Sakura from yesterday and he was just in a bad mood with Sasuke, so he just decided to ignore it and see what he would do. Hours passed as the three sat together, the silence only broken by Sakura's constant flirting and random outbursts of rage towards their late sensei. Kyuubi was started to get annoyed with her screechy voice and was bargaining with Naruto to see if he could bite her, just once, lightly, really, not that bad, just a scare, until footsteps could be heard outside the room. Naruto smirked, he had felt several pulses of chakra, each bigger and stronger than the last, trying to get their attention and get them to make their way to the roof. He obviously got tired of waiting and had come down to collect them.

As he slid open the door, Kyuubi jumped in front of Naruto shielding him from view with his tails fanned out behind him and let out a growl. Sasuke and Sakura stopped what they were doing and aimed their gazes at the man that now stood in the doorway. His silver hair spiked up away from his face and leaned slightly towards his left giving him a scarecrow look. His was wearing a standard jounin outfit complete with green flak jacket and blue pants. The only thing that differed from the norm was the mask that covered half his face and the hitai-ate that covered his left eye. He knew what lay behind that headband and was glad that it was covered. He watched from behind Kyuubi's tails as the jounin surveyed his new students. His face remained clear of any reaction to the group as he visually assessed Sakura and Sasuke. A small frown appeared when he couldn't see his third student that was hidden behind the mass of red fur that was growling at him. He turned towards the fox and shuddered at the hate filled gaze that was directed his way. If looks could kill he'd be pushing up daises and still feel the burn from that heated glare.

"My first impression of you is... your all idiots," he said in a calm, bored voice. Sakura squeaked in indignation and Sasuke frowned, not pleased at his assessment. He was an Uchiha! Not an idiot. Maybe he didn't know that, that's why he insulted them. He was about to make a comeback to this rude jounin, but Sakura beat him to it.

"Why are we the idiots? You're the one who was late! At least we can read the freaking time!" she screeched at him. Naruto winced. Maybe one day he would let Kyuubi bite her, just to shut her up. He felt a wave of satisfaction from the fox as he agreed with his decision. He decided to interrupt before Kakashi made them all look like imbeciles.

"It's because we didn't go to the roof right?" he asked innocently from behind Kyuubi's tails. Kyuubi grinned but didn't move. Kakashi looked surprised at the fan of tails before resuming his bored expression.

"And how did you know I wanted you at the roof?" he asked. He felt a little silly at talking to a fan of fur, but since his new student didn't seem to be moving, or the fox for that matter, he had no choice. Naruto smirked.

"Because of them chakra pulses you've been sending out every half hour. You wanted us to sense it and make our way up to the roof to meet you. When we didn't move you continued to send them out regularly and steadily make them stronger, trying to catch out attention. Then you finally got tired of waiting and came down here to meet us, assuming we are so dense that we couldn't sense your chakra." Naruto answered as if he was reading from a text book but still managed to hold that bored tone Kakashi seemed to employ. Kakashi frowned in annoyance.

"Then why didn't you come if you sensed my chakra?" he questioned.

"Cause _you're _the sensei. It's _your_ duty to guide us and come to us. Not us to come to you. Not very good at this are you?" Kakashi could hear the smirk in his voice. The fox grinned, proud at the way the boy was handling himself. He could still feel the tremendous terror from the boy, but he was controlling it and turning it into anger against the scarecrow. Sasuke smirked at Naruto, glad he covered up for him missing the fact that he didn't sense the chakra and was now giving their new sensei the third degree. Sakura just stood there open mouthed in disbelief. He's their _sensei!_ You couldn't talk to him like that!

"Show some respect freak! He's a jounin! Even if you beat Kenji, he could still kick your ass!" Sakura yelled at the fur that his Naruto. Naruto didn't need to answer as the fur that his him bristled and a low threatening growl was directed at her. She was effectively shut up, but still glared at the tails that hid her real target. Kakashi observed them with interest as they communicated.

'So this boy is the one that defeated Kenji? Hmmmm, interesting...' Instead he said, "Well since you don't feel like going up to the roof, we shall stay here instead. Why don't you tell me about yourselves? And after, we will answer questions and I will tell you about how we will conduct our missions and so forth." He went and sat down on Iruka's desk at the front of the class waiting for one of them to speak up.

"Wait, what do you mean tell you about ourselves? What do you want to know?" questioned Sakura, her voice a little less screechy as confusion covered the usual piercing sound.

"Whatever you want, your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, anything you like."

'Well why don't you go first to give us an example?" asked Sakura, still confused as to what he wanted.

"Ok, fine. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have many likes and dislikes. Hobbies? I don't think I want to tell you. Dreams for the future? Never really thought about. Okay, now it's your turn." He said in the same bored tone.

'Well that's helpful, he only really told us his name' thought Sakura. Unknown to her the other were thinking the same thing. "Ok, the pink one, you first." He directed toward Sakura.

"Hi! My name is Sakura Haruno. I like...I mean the person I like is..." she stopped as the blush crept up her cheeks and stopped the words in her mouth. She glanced quickly at Sasuke and giggled insanely. Naruto sweat dropped and Sasuke shivered with distaste. Sakura continued, but constantly stopped to giggle and blush. Naruto gagged in his head. "My hobby is... (Giggle) oh and my dreams for the future! Eeeek!" at this she couldn't go on as her head was filled with delusional fantasies. Kakashi sighed.

'Girls today are more interested in boys than they are in ninja training.' "Ok then, you next, tall, dark and brooding." He said pointing at Sasuke. Naruto and Kyuubi both snickered as Sakura screeched in protest.

"My name, is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like many things and hate a lot of things. I don't have any hobbies. What I have is not a dream because I _will _make it a reality. My goal, is to kill a certain _someone _and restore my clan." He said in a dark tone. Sakura had stars in her eyes, Kakashi looked like he didn't expect anything less and Naruto was idly playing with the fur on one of Kyuubi's tails. This was nothing new to him. He even knew who he wanted to kill. It was kinda obvious, with the whole revenge of his clan thing he had going on.

"Alright then, now you, hiding behind the fox." Kakashi said to Naruto. 'The one with the smart mouth' he really thought.

"Well I don't really feel like telling you my full name, and you already know me, but people just call me Naruto. The fox's name is Fang. He is my friend, protector and family. I love my family which saved me. I hate those who hurt others and judge people without knowing them, which is the majority of people. I have many hobbies but I mostly spend my time training or hanging out with Fang. I don't really have a dream for the future but I have a principle that I live by. To protect all those who couldn't protect themselves, so tragedies like the ones I have witnessed and experienced never happen again." His voice was dead and cold as he spoke. It sent shivers down Sasuke's spine and effectively stopped Sakura's screeching. Kakashi's visible eye widened when he heard the name Naruto.

'It can't be him. But it's not that common of a name. And the fox... that just makes it more likely for it to be him...but I _killed_ him! I remember my fist going through his stomach! It's been haunting my nightmares for the past ten years!' he thought desperately.  
"Move the fox's tails kid!" Kakashi ordered, afraid of what he was about to find out. 'Fang' growled at the man but Naruto cut him off.

"It's ok Fang. I'm fine, you can move." Naruto's voice sounded out from behind his screen. He sounded confident but on the inside he was trembling. Sakura and Sasuke watched on in confusion, curiosity and fascination at the events that were unfolding before them. It appeared that Kakashi and Naruto knew each other from past events. Sasuke was almost shaking with anticipation. At last he could find out more about the blonde enigma that had charged into his life a few days ago. He didn't realise he was holding his breath until the need for oxygen screamed at him in his head and he let it out in a big whoosh. Beside him he heard Sakura do the same.

Kyuubi growled once more in warning before curling his tails around his body, revealing the boy behind him. Naruto was the picture of ease with his head propped up and resting against his palm. Only his eyes betrayed the fear and tension he was feeling, and the stiff posture of his back portrayed his alertness to an attack.

Kakashi hadn't moved a muscle since Kyuubi moved, he had gone into shock. Naruto smiled grimly at his reaction as he stared at the face that haunted the majority of his nightmares.

"What's wrong sensei? Blast from the past too much for you? Or is seeing my face making you remember unfinished business?" he said bitterly, tensing further in preparation for an oncoming attack. Kyuubi was growling continuously at his feet, reassuring Naruto of his support and warning Kakashi at the same time. Kakashi winced at his implication, he had been regretting using the chidori on the boy and, so he thought, killing him ever since that night. He had come back from a failed mission against the shinobi clan that had killed Obito and was pissed and everyone and everything and seeing the boy that was the cause of his sensei's downfall, unharmed, had just set him off. The rest of the village treated him as a hero, but the Third had punished him severely by suspending him, and even after he had returned to active duty he was placed on mere C rank missions. It was 3 years before he could return to doing the usual B, A and S rank missions he was used to and even then he had to take a gennin group every year to train. Luckily for him though, none of them had passed his test that was inspired by Obito and, unconsciously, Naruto.

"Naruto, I'm so-," he started but Naruto interrupted him.

"Just forget about it for now, _sensei, _and tell us about the test we have to go through now," Naruto said impatiently, dismissing Kakashi's apology with a wave of his hand. Kakashi looked at Naruto in surprise and confusion.

"How did you know that there was a second part to becoming a gennin?" he asked incredulously. Naruto just sighed before explain to his sensei and the other clueless gennin.

"If every student from the academy was made a gennin, then not only would the Leaf village have at least three times the amount of military strength but the quality of each shinobi would be greatly lower than it is now with not enough time to train each ninja seriously. Obviously there is some test we have to take with a hidden meaning that we must grasp to pass. My guess is that only about a third of us will be allowed to pass while the others are sent back to the academy, based on the numbers of the shinobi I have seen so far." Naruto summed up from his observations. Kakashi was dumbfounded that he could surmise all of that from just observed of the village. Sakura and Sasuke were just surprised that they had to go through _more _tests to become gennin.

"But what was the academy's exams for?" demanded Sakura. "All those tests and all that training! Why would we need to go through more?"

"The academy exams were there to select those who have the potential to become gennin, not to actually select gennin. It's as Naruto says, if we made every academy graduate a gennin, we would have many more shinobi, but the quality of each would be pathetic. There would be hardly any jounin or chuunin whilst there would be way too many gennin." Kakashi explained to the confused girl. Sasuke just frowned. This would just delay him towards his goal. He didn't need any more time wasting tests! He needed to get stronger NOW.

'Why can't these stupid people realise this?' he thought angrily.

"Ok, that's enough of an introduction. Tomorrow we shall meet at the third training ground at dawn for the test. Oh and I advise you not to eat any breakfast or you'll throw up,' he added. Judging by the way his mask crinkled, he was smiling. Naruto frowned at this warning and the clear amusement he got from telling it.

"Fine," was all Naruto said before standing up. Kyuubi leapt up as his master got to his feet. Naruto headed towards the door, Kyuubi staying between him and Kakashi, in case he tried anything. All eyes were on him as he paused at the door and turned back towards his nightly tormentor. "I would rather if you told no one about who I really am. I wouldn't want a repeat of what happened the last time I was here. Fang wouldn't take it well," he said before leaving the room. Sakura and Sasuke just stared at the empty space that he once stood in blankly, before turning their eyes towards their sensei. His eye held guilt, regret and sadness in it before wiping all emotion from his face and turning towards his 'students'.

"Ok then, tomorrow at dawn. See you then," he said to them before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Sasuke and Sakura turned and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"H-hey Sasuke, you wanna go and get something to eat together?"

Sasuke just ignored her and walked out the door. Tomorrow morning was going to be interesting.


	14. Chapter 13

Sorry for the late update guys! P.S all the reviewers - i love yous! XD

Pa0lini

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As soon as he left the room Naruto collapsed against the hall's wall, his trembling limbs refusing to support him any longer. Terror coursed through his veins as he tried to breathe, but found air wasn't coming easily to his lungs. Fear induced adrenaline was the only thing keeping the dark haze at the edge of his vision back and him conscious. He slid down the wall as his legs folded underneath him. If one meeting with Kakashi did this to him, how was he going to cope working on the same team as him? What was the Third thinking when he picked the teams? Did he get some sick amusement from this situation? Or was this some form of punishment for returning to the village? Either way, he had to talk to him about this. Forcing his shaking limbs to move, Naruto slowly got up from the floor. Kyuubi, hearing what he was thinking, rushed to his side and allowed him to rest his weight on his back. The darkness claimed Naruto as he fell against the fox. Whining softly he wrapped his tails about the boy and both disappeared in a burst of flame.

...

'I should have seen this coming...' thought the third Hokage as he viewed the occupants of the room. The advisors to the Hokage; Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were sitting opposite him; both had identical scowls on their faces. The Sandaime frowned at Kakashi who was leaning up against the wall, as if nothing was wrong and was eyeing up a nervous Iruka who stood in the middle of the room. If it were up to him he would have revoked Kakashi's ninja status and locked him in the darkest cell he could find. It was only because the council over ruled him and marked him as a hero, that he was unable to do nothing more than keep him on D rank missions for a couple of years. He gained some pleasure from the fact he knew that his actions haunted him every night. The last man to stand in the room was the one he truly hated with a passion, Danzo. He sighed heavily. It would be a long afternoon.

"What can I do for you, Homura, Koharu?" he asked the advisors. Better to get them out of the way first, they were a bigger pain in the neck then Mist ambassadors, and they usually killed the escorts!

"You know damn well why we are here Sarutobi!" yelled Homura. "Why is it we that we have only just now heard that the demon brat is not only alive, but in our village, trying to become a ninja no less!"

The Hokage eyed the pruned man in distaste. "I'm sorry if I do not tell you about every person that comes through our gates or the names of every shinobi that we employ. I shall make amends at once and send you a list of them all if that will satisfy you. As to why you have only just now heard he is alive, I only found out myself 3 days ago that he was alive and living under the protection of Tsunade Senju, granddaughter of the first Hokage and member of the Sannin. Who also seems to have adopted him as his son." He said the last bit smugly as he watched the faces in the room pale, each with their own thoughts

"So that was the kaa-san he was talking about," thought Iruka

"That's how he survived the lightning blade," Kakashi surmised.

"If he is under the protection of Tsunade we can't touch the demon!"

"Why would the princess want to adopt the brat? Surely she must know who he is!"

"I must turn him into a weapon for me. If I have him, then the village is mine!"

"I wonder if Konohamaru will try and assassinate me now. I hope so because I really want to get out of this room."

Koharu, tired of the silence, decided to make her opinion known.

"He must leave immediately. He cannot become a shinobi of our village. He is an unknown threat and we do not know where his loyalties lie. If the villagers find out that the Kyuubi brat is still alive they will want blood and we will have a riot on our hands. If he won't leave then the Anbu will have to take him out."

Iruka spluttered in disbelief. Naruto was still a boy! The only reason he is a threat is because they couldn't control him! He was about to protest but Sarutobi beat him to it.

"And why is it his loyalties are unknown? He was born in the Leaf village, what would have made him turn away from us? Why would he want to hurt us?" he demanded, his anger getting the best of him. But before the council woman could reply he cut across her. "Oh yes, that's right. Because we beat him like an animal when he was just a baby! No I'm sorry; animals are treated better than he was! He was beaten to near death every night of the first three years of his life! He had no home or family and everyone he met hated him with a passion and he didn't know WHY. The only names he ever heard people call him, were monster, demon, freak! Why he should love us without question for the wonderful way he was treated! You know very well that it is our fault that he is considered a threat." During his rant he had stood up, face slowly turning red and a slight tinge of purple appeared as he ran out of breath. The room fell quiet as they contemplated his words.

"He is a monster and as such, he should be treated like one." Danzo stated coldly. "He has the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him and we don't know when it will take over the boy and attack us again so we must either contain him or kill him." Iruka was shaking with anger at Danzo's statement.

"He is just a child! It is not his fault for what has been done to him. It's _ours!_ Why should he have to suffer for out mistake?" yelled Iruka.

"He is a demon and must be eliminated before the villagers know of him. That is why he is on Kakashi's team." Danzo retorted. The Sandaime's eyes widened in horror.

"WHAT?" he yelled, staring in disbelief at Danzo. 'I placed him on Asuma's team! That way I could be sure he wouldn't be harmed and I could keep an eye on him! Why is he on Kakashi's team?' he thought desperately. "Why has the gennin team placements changed?" he demanded of the council members. Homura and Koharu exchanged a glance before answering.

"We felt we had to intervene for the good of the village." Said Homura

"We gave the team lists to Danzo and he made the corrections with our advice." Koharu finished.

Sarutobi stared at the council members in disbelief and rage. Danzo smirked.

"I put him on Kakashi's team because he is the most qualified to watch him. After all it is him who drove the demon from our village the last time, when the boy turns rabid and loses control; he will be able to take care of the problem." He stated smugly.

"You had NO right to interfere in ninja business! Danzo, the Anbu are your concern and your only concern! Homura, Koharu, you are a_dvisors!_ You have no authority over military matters! I am the Hokage and I will not allow this blatant insubordination stand!" He yelled. Taking a deep breath he was about to continue but was cut short as a ball of fire appeared in the middle of the room. Iruka had to jump out of the way to avoid being cooked. He studied the ball of fire and recognition hit him hard.

'_Oh no' _he thought. Now was not the greatest time for Naruto to appear. Especially when three of the most powerful people in the village that wanted him dead were mere steps away. Kakashi looked at the fire with the same bored expression he usually had, but a kunai knife was held tightly in his hand, his posture subtly changing into a fighting stance. The council advisors had jumped out of the way and hidden behind Danzo, who had summoned his Anbu bodyguards to protect him. Sarutobi hadn't moved; he knew this chakra signature well. Red paws emerged from the fire, each the size of a dinner plate, followed by an elegant red head and graceful body. The third looked dumbstruck, surely the fox he had seen with Naruto before had only gone up to his waist? This fox looked the exact same yet was the size of a tiger! Kyuubi eyed the people in the room, hate gleamed fiercely from his eyes towards Danzo and Kakashi; his nine tails that were covering something that was resting, unmoving on his back tightened at the sight of them. The fire vanished as suddenly as it came, leaving the newcomers in the office. Kakashi blinked, Iruka fidgeted, the advisors eyes almost popped out of their heads, Danzo gave the signal for his Anbu to attack.

"No!" yelled the Third and Iruka simultaneously as the Anbu moved in to kill the fox. Kyuubi turned towards the oncoming ninja and growled threateningly. It was low but fierce and sent terror drilling into the very bones of the people there, although years of ninja training allowed them to hide that fact. The Anbu drew short swords and charged the fox. Two of his tails lifted from covering the boy and swayed dangerously.

"Stop this at once!" yelled the Third. "If you don't he'll kill you!" Kyuubi nodded his massive head in acknowledgment, pleased the old man knew of the threat he posed. The Anbu ignored the warning though, and smirked at the animal they were about to destroy, overconfident in their abilities and underestimating their enemy's. It was the last thing they ever did. The two tails that had disengaged from covering the boy darted at the Anbu, and immediately cut through their defences. They had a minute of panic before the tails buried themselves in their chests, breaking bones, piercing organs and splattering blood all over Danzo and the advisors who had cowered behind the now dead ninjas. They stared in horror as the tails lifted the bodies up from the floor and shook the dead weights off from their tips. Kyuubi brought his tails in front of him and started to lick them clean, occasionally coming across pieces of muscles or length of entrails that he would happily devour before continuing on in his cleaning. Kakashi walked over to the corpses of the now dead Anbu and made sure they were actually dead before moving them out the way and covering their faces in respect.

"Kill it!" screamed Koharu. "Kill the beast!" Kyuubi paused from his cleaning and growled at the old woman.

"Stop it," a voice said clearly, ringing with authority. All people in the room paused, whilst Kyuubi whined slightly. He lifted his tails and revealed Naruto, sitting up and rubbing his head.


	15. Chapter 14

This chapter is in response and dedicated to my favourite and most animated reviewer; NarutoRyomaCub. Your reviews constantly make me laugh and I am deeply humbled by how much you like my story. I thank you very much ^^ so as you requested, this chapter is out as soon as I could write it ^^ amazing isn't it? :P

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Naruto eyed the people gathered, his face a cold mask that hid the torrent of feelings that raged within. The foremost being fear and rage. Kakashi had a kunai in his hand still and his eyes were locked onto Naruto with an unwavering gaze. Images ran rampant in his head from the sight of seeing him and kunai together; he could almost feel the searing pain as the cruel metal tasted his flesh. But the tsunami of terror was nothing compared to the rage he felt when he saw the three most hate full gazes he had ever seen of his top three enemies. Homura, Koharu and Danzo had been shocked when Naruto sat up, but that was quickly replaced by their hate and anger. As he gazed at the three, his eyes the only indicator of his rage as they were slightly tinged with red, memories flooded his head from when he learned of their hand in his early years.

_Flashback_

A 7-year old, blonde youth ran through the busy market place, a baby fox at his heels. Many screams and yells could be heard behind him.

"Come back here you brat!" a voice yelled out. A man with spiky white hair who looked to be in his late 40's was running after him, and running after the man was a horde of angry, half-naked women, many only covering themselves with towels as they had not been able to get clothes in their haste to beat the living daylights out of the man.

"No way, you perv! You should know better!" laughed the youth. The fox at his heels yipped in agreement and amusement. The man was slowly gaining on the boy, and he noticed it.

'Uh-oh' he thought, 'though I hate an unfair fight, I'd better bust out some ninja skills or I'm gonna be a bloody pulp!' The fox laughed at the term 'ninja skills' but continued running with the boy. The child quickly did a hand sign and leapt onto the roof of a nearby building. Waving towards the man staring at him in shock, he dashed off with his chakra enhanced speed. Unknown to the boy, the man grinned. Not even using a hand sign, he jumped after the boy. The women running behind them stopped and stared as the pair jumped from building to building. Grumbling about injustice they marched back to where they came from, the women's baths, all except one blonde one who had her hands clenched into fists and was shaking with rage.

...

The wind whistled past the boy's hair and ruffled his blonde locks and he soared above the ground. Landing lightly on the ground after leaping from the roof of a building, he walked towards a near-by tree and sat down under it. The little fox came and looked up at his friend and master. The boy smiled at it and patted its head before closing his eyes for a nap. All that excitement took it out of him. Just as he was about to doze off, he heard a warning growl come from the fox. Snapping his eyes open he stared at the white haired man who was mere steps away and was grinning madly with an evil glint in his eyes.

"So, you know some ninja skills huh?" he asked, a mocking tone in his voice. The fox sweat dropped. What is it with these people and calling them 'ninja skills?' it thought. The boy just stared open mouthed at the man who had managed to catch up with him.

'He's good. Not even Shizune can catch me when I'm running,' he was thinking as he got to his feet. He took a closer look at the white haired pervert he'd caught peeking on the woman's baths. He was wearing forest green pants and shirt with fish-nets at the ends so the baggy clothes didn't get in the way when using his hands or legs. His outrageously spiky hair was held back by a headband with the symbol for Oil on it. Over his clothes he had a red coat and a large scroll was hanging down his back. He had red lines on his face which ran down from his eyes till they disappeared from his face, almost like he's crying blood, thought the boy. Altogether... he looked ridiculous. He couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. The man looked at him in surprise as he clutched his stomach and tears leaked from his eyes.

"What's so funny brat?" the man asked indignantly, a slight suspicion told him that it was himself.

"Y-you! Ha ha! Y-you look s-so stupid! Ha ha ha! W-what are you wearing?" he managed to gasp out in between giggles. The man frowned; he was right about what he was laughing at. Deciding to humour the child, he introduced himself.

"I, my boy, am the hope that shines from the sky! The man every woman wants to meet! The hero that every evil-doer quakes at the sound of my name! I am the handsome, the magnificent, the incredible, the Toad-Sage Jiraiya!" he stated grandly, finishing in an odd pose with his leg raised and a hand out in front and out behind him. The boy just stared before bursting into laughter all over again. A vein throbbed on Jiraiya's temple as he watched the child roll around on the floor, unable to breathe from laughing to hard. Even the stoic fox by his side was chuckling. Controlling himself with difficulty, he managed to ask a question.

"And what do you want with me pervy-sage?" he asked, still chuckling slightly. He bristled at the nickname he had just be christened.

"It's Jiraiya! And you interrupted my research! Now I won't be able to finish my book" he said angrily.

"Research?"

"Yes"

"At the women's baths?"

"Yes"

"For a book?"

"Yes"

"You need to peek on naked women for your book?"

"Yes"

"Now I regret saving your life" Naruto stated. Jiraiya looked at him in confusion.

"When did you save my life?" he asked

"Hmm? Oh, my kaa-san was taking a bath in there when you were perving. If she caught you, you would be dead, in hell and still feel the effect of her punch." He said shrugging.

"But if I was just a normal perv who wasn't writing a book about naked women, you wouldn't regret saving my life?" he asked baffled.

"Yeah, 'cause people who do that are usually sad, lonely and sooooo desperate it's the only thing they have." He explained. Jiraiya felt as though each of his words were a slap to the face.

"HA HA HA! Desperate! Yes, they are, aren't they?" he said loudly. The boy could see the nervous sweat on his forehead and sweat dropped. 'You're one of those guys!' he thought shaking his head.

"Anyway, kid, I'm looking for a special woman in particular. She has blonde hair, and really rally nice boobs" he said with a lecherous grin. The boy looked at him in disgust and was about to send the guy on his way when a screech interrupted them.

"PERVET!" Tsunade screamed at the top of her voice, running towards them. The man in question chuckled to himself.

"Speak of the devil and he shall arrive." He muttered under his breath, quiet enough that the boy didn't hear him. He looked at the boy to see him backing away to a safe distance.

"Don't blame me! I warned you! Look out for her right hook!" He yelled, giving himself the best view point of the fight. He laughed when he saw the man pale as Tsunade stopped right in front of him. Jiraiya managed a small "h-hey," before a fist connected to his face and sent him flying into the tree that the boy was leaning against minutes ago. The boy chuckled under his breath and said to himself,

"I warned him about that right hook." The fox beside him grinned. He watched as Tsunade walked up to the pile at the bottom of the tree that was Jiraiya. And was about to hit him again until she heard him speak.

"Haven't lost your touch Tsunade." His voice holing a small amount of amusement, it was drowned out however by the amount of pain that was zipping through his veins and centring at his face where the punch had connected. Tsunade looked at him closely.

"Jiraiya?" she asked in disbelief. At his vantage point, the boy frowned. This wasn't going the way he expected. Tsunade had just stopped. Did he do something to her? He panicked. Thinking nothing of himself and everything about the woman, he ran towards her.

"Kaa-san! Are you ok?" he yelled. Jiraiya looked up in surprise at the boy running towards him then towards Tsunade; who had also looked towards the blonde child running at them, full speed.

"I'm fine Naruto," she smiled. Jiraiya's mouth almost fell off his face. Tsunade? A mum? The child couldn't be older than 7 or 8! And he had seen her roughly 5 years ago. There was no way. Then the name sunk in. He turned his head to look at the child and studied his every feature. His blond hair, cheeky grin, bright blue eyes, how was it possible?

"Naruto?" he breathed. Tsunade flinched at her slip. Of course he would connect the dots, she cursed to herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Naruto's worry over his mother was gone when Jiraiya uttered his name, replaced by fear. He _knew. _He knew that the man knew who he was, where he was from and what was in him. It was in his voice. The disbelief, the recognition, everything that other people had when they learned his name. He was frozen to the spot, wild panic clear in his large blue eyes. He was going to get hurt again. Memories of past encounters of people who knew of the demon flashed through his head. The beatings, the pain, the unending suffering, he started to shake; the fox at his feet growled and whined at the same time, trying to comfort the boy and warn the stranger at the same time, it fell upon deaf ears as Naruto's mind raced. He wanted to cry and scream his pain until his voice was raw and throat was bloody, but he had made a promise to himself a long time ago that he would never vocalize his despair. After all, crying out is a survival technique used to seek help; there was no point in it if no one was there to listen. No one wanted to help the demon, only hurt him. Naruto turned and was about to run off, but a pair of arms encircled his torso and stopped him. The familiar warmth and scent of his mother penetrated the fear induced haze of his mind and slowly calmed him as she put herself between him and the new potential threat. Oh, he had a mother now, he forgot. He had someone who would help, to listen, to love him. He clutched to her like a lifeline as he tried not to drown in his fear and terror. He heard a soothing sound, it was a while before he realised it was Tsunade talking to him, repeating the same few words over and over.

"It's ok Naru. Mummy's here. It's ok. Calm down. I'm here, mummy's here..." she repeated soothingly. Jiraiya watched with fascination and confusion. He wisely decided to stay silent until the boy was calmed down.

"Jiraiya." Tsunade said without looking at him. "Let's get Naruto home. Then we can talk." And she walked off, not looking back to see if he was following, all her attention on the bundle clutching to her chest that she carried off in the opposite direction. Naruto didn't notice her pick him up, or the fact that they were moving. He did notice that his fox had jumped up and settled on his stomach and was purring comfortingly. The soothing words and calming purring soon opened the gated of sleep and he slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

...

As Naruto returned to wakefulness, he heard voices coming from the room down the hall. He sat up slowly, trying not to make a sound, and took in his surroundings. He was back in his house, his room to be precise, and the voices sounded familiar. He slowly got out of bed. As soon as his feet hit the floor, a small red furball barrelled into his chest, almost knocking him back down. He looked down, and blood red eyes stared back. Naruto smiled and put a finger to his lips. The fox nodded in understanding and softly leapt down from his arms and padded to the. Naruto trailed after. Pushing himself up against the wall, he crept to the kitchen, where he could hear the voices coming from. Pausing at the edge of the doorway, he stopped and listened.

"They all think he's dead! How is he still alive?" Jiraiya demanded of Tsunade. She was holding a cup of coffee and staring back at him defiantly.

"I found him 4 years ago outside the village with a giant hole through his chest! He had scores of other injuries but they were already healing. I saved him and took him with me. It took him _months _to trust me and talk to me when he figured out I knew who he was. I don't know what he went through in that village but I swear if I ever find out who did this I will come after them personally and make them wish to go to hell!" she scream whispered, trying not to wake Naruto, who was listening in.

"I know who did it, but I know it wasn't his fault and I know who was behind his hell of a life before you." Jiraiya spat. Naruto froze, straining to heat the names of the bastards who made him suffer. "It's the reason I was looking for you. The Third has lost all power within the village. He is no more than a figure-head now. He thinks he is running the village but is sorely mistaken. The night of the Kyuubi attack I and the heads of the ninja clans were gathered to decide what to do with the boy. I told them he was the container, sealing the fox, a hero, but the others saw this as a way to torture the fox while he was weakened. The head council members, I think their names are Homura and Koharu, and Danzo, the guy who fought with the third for the seat of Hokage, were the ones that fuelled this belief. They saw him as a monster when he showed his growing and healing abilities. Homura and Koharu wanted to kill him right there but Danzo said to make him suffer every night and break him, then he could be used as a weapon for the village. I protested to this and in the end they kicked me out. I told the third and he sent Anbu to protect him, unfortunately, Danzo controls the Anbu and they just added to the torture.

On the night of his supposed death, I discovered that Koharu gave special soldier pills to a ninja cell, they were modified to send the recipient into a murderous rampage. They made sure the group returned from their mission at a place where Naruto frequents and it was one Kakashi Hatake who pierced though his body, he must have run afterwards and then you discovered him."

Naruto shivered as memories of his last night in the village swamped his mind, the lightning, the sound of thousands of birds chirping, the light, the _pain, _he peeled himself off the wall and crept back to his room, ignoring the rest of the conversation and brushing of the distinct sound of a fist smashing through a wall. He collapsed on his bed, mind running through this new information as sleep claimed him once again.

_End Flashback_

It was all their fault that his dreams were plagued with nightmares, that he had to constantly look over his shoulder in case someone decided he had lived long enough. His glare grew more hate-filled as he eyed the people in front of him. They were all pathetic; he was the strong one here. If he could come out alive for the first three years of his life with having most of the shinobi in the village out for his blood, then he didn't have to question his own strength. He was stronger than them and their hate; they could harm his body but not his soul. They were the weak ones, not him. They called him a monster, but they were monsters too. They were just monsters of a different kind. They would torture babies if it made them more powerful, they would step over and on cripples, woman and children if it meant that their pathetic necks were saved, and they would do all whilst smiling and drinking a cup of tea. It made him sick.

"Naruto, why are you here?" the Sandaime's voice broke through his thoughts. Naruto turned and looked at him. He was old and frail, no wonder the others had found it so easy to wrest control off him without him noticing. Pushing these thoughts aside he spoke to the people assembled in the room.

"I want to change gennin squads." He said clearly.


	16. Chapter 15

sorry guys! this is the real chapter 15, thanks to storyteller1333 and slatedfox for telling me about the boo boo :D enjoy!

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The sun peaked over the trees, shining through the thick branches to rest on the figure of a blonde haired teen that was leaning against the solid trunk of an oak. Naruto sighed, he felt rather lonely as his usual fluffy companion was absent. He raised his gaze towards the other side of the field where his two other 'team-mates' approach training ground 7. One immediately rushed over to the other, smothering him in complements and praise over just how fantastic he was to walk from that particular direction. He snorted as he watched the other male's face turned from indifference to disgust at the screeching pink haired female's antics. He sighed again as he remembered how he'd failed on trying to get a new team.

_Flashback_

Homura and Koharu laughed outright at Naruto's demand. The blonde turned to glare at them, but it went unnoticed as they continued to laugh down at him. Getting control of himself, Homura turned and looked at the boy who was still glaring at them.

"You think _you _have the right to come in here and demand things from _us?"_ he asked incredulously, Koharu still having trouble controlling her giggles. Danzo smirked from his position.

"The teams have been chosen and have been introduced to each other. There is no changing them now, you have no choice in the matter, demon." He said smugly. At the familiar name he was often given, all emotion was wiped from Naruto's face. Turning to the Third he raised an eye-brow, asking in silence for confirmation of this fact. The Sandaime sighed and nodded sadly. Annoyance flitted across the blonde's face before being replaced by a cold mask. Kyuubi growled menacingly at the Third, knowing he could do something, he was just too weak to do it. At the sound of the growl, Danzo brought his attention to the fox and frowned. How could the child have the audacity to bring of those foul beasts within the villages walls? Noticing the numerous tails his face scrunched in disgust.

"If I were you, _demon, _I would kill that thing quick or at least take it back where it came from. It taints our village by its presence." He sneered. Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion and anger.

"Where it came from?" he asked.

"The forest, you stupid brat. The Demon Fox must have mated with other foxes before coming to destroy our humble village because his spawn are running rampant throughout the forests. We know that they're it's because they all have numerous tails, like the cur beside you. I suggest you take it back or some of the villager's might take it as incentive to start or yearly celebrations early" he said with a sadistic smirk. Naruto's blood chilled at the smugness of Danzo's voice. He could also feel Kyuubi's growing happiness over their link at information he had children, but that was also stopped by the dark humour he saw in Danzo's eyes. Knowing he would regret it, Naruto asked anyway.

"What yearly celebrations?" his voice wavering slightly with dread. Danzo's smirk widened at the obvious discomfort on the demon host's face.

"Why you don't know?" he asked innocently, "Well as you know, the 10th of October is the date our village triumphed over the demon fox." Naruto's hands curled into fists.

'The village, my ass! It was the Fourth who stopped him!' he thought furiously, but stayed silent.

"Every year on that date, we celebrate our village's victory but indulging in a little sport" He continued, oblivious to Naruto's anger. "Hunting has always been a noble sport and every year we gather together to celebrate that fact. We gather on the edges of the forest and hunt down the demon's spawn" His eyes had taken a glazed, faraway look, as if he was there killing the creatures right now.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. Slowly he turned towards the Third, eyes begging him to tell him it wasn't true. The Sandaime wouldn't meet his eyes; his head was hung in shame. As much as he liked the man for his kindness when he was younger, all respect Naruto had for the old man, little as it was, was now a long forgotten memory. Naruto had barely strung two words together in his head when an ear splitting roar filled the small room. Everyone but Naruto winced. Naruto turned towards his companion with sympathy in his eyes, able to feel the torrent of emotions going through the fox over their link. Any happiness that Kyuubi had felt over discovering he had heirs, was lost within the depth of his pain, anger, sadness and guilt. If he was there he could have protected them! His blood red eyes turned onto Danzo who had been torn from his pleasant memory by the pain filled roar. He eyes the fox warily before turning towards the boy.

"Control the beast or he will be dealt with," he said coldly, part of him hoping the boy would ignore him so he would have the pleasure of personally dealing with the creature. The hate and contempt he held for the village was now ten-fold as he eyed the people who controlled it. Bowing stiffly and muttering a 'thank-you for your time' he turned towards Kyuubi and placed a finger between his brows. A soft glow emanated from the point of contact that slowly engulfed the fox's entire body. Pulsing slightly it disappeared along with the fox. Naruto then turned on his heel and left without another word. The council stared after him. Watching from the corners of the room, long forgotten, Iruka and Kakashi witnessed all that had happened.

...

Sasuke looked up from Sakura's annoying yapping and saw Naruto smirking in his direction. He frowned as he realised the blonde knew of his discomfort and was enjoying it, immensely. His frown was replaced by curiosity however when the blonde lost his smirk and his face fell in defeat, his eyes blank as they were lost in memory. He saw the boy sigh again, as if the whole world were out to get him. Remembering the look he had in his eyes on the day of the exam after defeating Kenji, Sasuke didn't doubt that it actually might. Pushing the image of Naruto's pain filled eyes out of his head, he looked around realising it was well past dawn and their new sensei was very much extremely late. Raising his head to the sky and observing the sun he estimated the time being about an hour before midday. His stomach was protesting its empty state by making him feel like it was going to crawl up his mouth and run away to find food on its own. He could hear the extremely demands of '_feed me!' _the pink haired kunoichi hanging off his arm, obviously it takes after its owner, he thought dryly. His thoughts were interrupted however by the arrival of their silver haired jounin.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I was lost on the path of life..."

"LIAR" screeched Sakura at his pathetic excuse. Kakashi had the dignity to look bashful. Scratching the back of his head he apologized, though Sasuke and Naruto could tell he didn't mean it, Sakura drank in his apology with an air of smugness.

"Anyway, today we will be doing some survival exercises. If you pass, you become gennin." Kakashi grinned evilly. "If you fail, you go back to the academy."

Sasuke's eyes bulged, Sakura, for once, was speechless, Naruto just looked bored. Nodding with satisfaction over their reactions, except Naruto's, he continued on with his explanation.

"The aim of the game is to try and get these...," he held up two bells and jingled them slightly, "...You have until noon to try. You can use anything you have in your arsenal to assist you. Kunai, shuriken, jutsu...," He looked at Naruto, "...and any summons you have. If you fail to collect a bell before noon you will be tied up to one of these...," he pointed to three study wooden stumps that stood just behind him, "...and you will be forced to watch me eat my lunch." He eyes held an evil glint to them, he wasn't joking. Naruto snorted silently with amusement. He had breakfast this morning. He doubted very much that anything Kakashi did would make him vomit nowadays, he had seen too much. Banishing morbid thoughts from his mind Naruto returned his attention to Kakashi, only to find the test had started and his other two teammates had disappeared. Kakashi was looking at him strangely.

"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit weird..." he commented dryly. Naruto chuckled, stomping down hard on the fear that rose at the sound of Kakashi's voice.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought. So the aim is to get the bell right?" he asked nonchalantly, concentrating hard on not making his voice waver. Kakashi seemed to see through his valiant attempt of indifference and felt a wave of sadness and guilt overwhelm him. It was his fault the boy was like this...

"Pretty much. No bell, no lunch, no pass," he said listing the points by ticking off his fingers. Naruto shrugged, his hands blurred for a moment before returning to their previous position in his pockets. He pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against and walked towards Kakashi. He stopped a few feet away and faced his new sensei, giving himself enough room to manoeuvre about if Kakashi decided to attack.

"I've eaten already this morning so the 'no lunch' doesn't bother me," he said flippantly. Kakashi raised his brows at this but allowed him to continue, "But I need to pass this to be a gennin so I suppose I have to participate in this game of yours." Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time that morning. Kakashi's brows raised higher, enough so that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.

"Game?" he repeated incredulously. Naruto just looked bored.

"Hm? Oh, well there is an ulterior point to this activity, that I know mind you, but since I guess you don't want me yelling it out when the other two are still within hearing distance, they can figure it out for themselves. The whole ninja must see the underneath the underneath, the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings, Ninja must see through all deception." He sounded like he was reciting a mantra that was pounded into his head repeatedly. Naruto rubbed his head absently; he could still feel the lump from Tsunade when she beat that lesson into him. Kakashi was impressed; he had the test figured out.

"Well then that should make this a lot easier, off you go then." He said, giving Naruto a shooing motion with his hands. Naruto shrugged again.

"Nah, I'm good," He said, pulling one of his hands from his pockets. A small tinkling sound drew attention to the bell he was holding in his hand, a very fox-like grin was plastered onto his face.

"What-?" exclaimed the silver-haired jounin, twisting to look down at his waist where sure enough, only one more bell remained. Kakashi turned towards Naruto, "When? How?" he demanded. Naruto chuckled.

"Well when I first got off the tree I had already performed the jutsu I needed to get the bell." He explained, sounding really, really bored. Kakashi remembered his hands blurring for a split second and marvelled at his speed before returning his attention back to what Naruto was saying. "As for the how..." Naruto trailed off and made a whistling sound. Rustling could be heard from Kakashi's left. A blur of red streaked from the bushes and rushed to its master's side. Naruto crouched and gladly welcomed the fox that jumped up into his arms. Scratching the animal behind his ears affectionately he continued. "Fang here got it when I was distracting you with the questions and small talk," he said smugly.

Kakashi was speechless. This brat showed enough skill to make sure he get at least chuunin level, if not higher. His deception skills were astounding, he didn't even sense an increase or flicker in his chakra when he performed his jutsu. Wait..., the fear. What he thought was fear was actually the activation of the jutsu! This kid used his own fear to his advantage! He marvelled at the level of control the child had over his emotions; he could be a force unknown since _him._ Storing this new information away to report to the Hokage he addressed his new pupil.

"Well I suppose you pass then," he said "although you totally missed the point of the test," he frowned. Naruto smiled at him, very sarcastically mind you.

"What the whole teamwork thing? The fact is that if we were all normal gennin, we would have no chance against you separately, so this test was designed to force us to work together. Either way, at least one person would be tied to the log and we would have an epiphany of self sacrificing nobleness where we would probably try to feed the one tied to the stump, thus proving we would rather help each other than pass this test and then pass this test." He theorized. Kakashi's mouth had dropped at the start of the explanation. Closing it quickly he searched around for the other's chakra signatures. "Don't worry, they left when I revealed the bell." Naruto laughed. "They don't know the true purpose of this test." Kakashi sighed, and dropped his head in defeat. Looks like this year he'll actually have to teach.

"Ok, ok. I get it. You pass. You and Fang can leave; meet me at the bridge on the east-side of town tomorrow morning at 7 for our first mission. If the other two pass they'll meet you there.

Naruto smirked. Without saying anything, he turned and walked out the clearing, Fang at his heels.


	17. Chapter 16

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS A GRAPHIC TORTURE SCENE! You have been warned. ^^

Due to a request in one of the reviews I am going to try and make the chapters longer ^^ though this will make updating less frequent, but I will try and make it weekly with each chap being about 6-10 pages long. ^^ Also I am working on another story so my attention is going to be split between the two.

I'm writing this chapter with my newly acquired Kyuubi plushie by my side, so hopefully he inspires me. Other than that, please enjoy the latest chapter ^^

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Naruto, however, did not leave. Circling back, making sure to hide his presence and dimming his chakra signature to that of an animal, he watched the rest of the 'test', safe and hidden in the boughs of a sturdy tree. He doubted the council would allow him to work solo, they would say the whole team failed and then make him leave. The Third would be unable to do anything, he was a mere figure head. Maybe, back in the day, when Sarutobi was at his prime he would of actually run the village decently, not allowing others to undermine his authority, make decisions for himself, the kind of things r_eal _leaders did. Naruto snorted, Jiraiya would have been a better leader than Sarutobi, and the guy was a proud, Super Pervert, his own words. So he may as well stick around and see if he could help out in any way he could. Unnoticed of course.

Closing his eyes, Naruto focused his senses, locating his soon-to-be teammates. He located Sasuke quickly, he was fairly close to his position. He seemed to be setting up a trap for their bastard sensei. No matter how he seemed on the outside, Naruto didn't think he could ever bring himself to like the man. He was single-handedly responsible for more than half of the nightmares that plagued his mind when he was growing up. He saw his face in every shadow and alley that he passed. Every thunderstorm that had passed he thought it was _him _coming for his life again. Every time a flock of birds passed he winced in painful remembrance. He was never free from the man's unintentional influence on his life. No matter the evidence that claimed he wasn't responsible for his actions or the remorse the man felt, Naruto could never forgive him. The man shoved his fist through his chest! A child has a very impressionable mind and this was his most vivid memory. He had never trusted another person after that until Tsunade had come along, and even then it had taken _months_ for him to talk to her after their first encounter, and even then it was a slip of the tongue. He had to warn her before the men who had hurt him, hurt her too.

_Flashback_

It had been 4 months since Tsunade had taken Naruto under her wing. He hadn't spoken to her or anyone after she had whispered his name. He had gone mute, his face in a constant state of fear. He did not trust her much, no matter how much the voice in the back of his head yelled at him to. He refused to swallow any of the food and drink she provided him with, instead trying his hand at hunting and drinking from rivers. Of course he wasn't as apt at it as he hoped and he was slowly wasting away, often getting poisoned from the bad water and relying on her to heal him. The warm feeling that usually did had not appeared since that day for some reason, as if it was punishing him for doing something wrong. He brushed this thought off and continued to watch the woman that had helped him and continue to do so. He was curious as to why someone who knew him would actually help him and not harm him. Maybe it was some kind of trap? A lead to some great horror she had yet to present him with? Currently he was following her through a busy street. He was tempted to grab hold of her cloak with his small hands to prevent him from getting lost within the crowd, some natural instinct to cling to the woman was overcoming his senses, only his overwhelming fear of people was squashing the feeling dead in its tracks. He looked up at the face of the blonde haired female, only to find her lost in thought as she weaved her way through the crowd gracefully. Maybe she wouldn't notice if he held onto her cloak? She looked so deep in thought that a meteor could have fallen out of the sky and landed right next to her, and she wouldn't have noticed. Deciding to take the chance he reached out to grasp the edge of her coat that flew behind her in the wind. Just as his fingers grazed the fabric, he felt the back of his neck explode in pain before the world started to dim. He tried to call out to the woman that had been with him, only for him to realise he forgot her name. She had only said it once and now, as his consciousness was slowly fading, her name escaped him. Somewhere, from deep within his mind a name was supplied to him, it was unknown and sounded strange as he voiced it, but the presence within his mind seemed to radiate with approval as he accepted the name. The warmth that had been absent the last 4 months returned and dulled the pain that was making his head hurt, his reward for calling the name. He liked how the name felt so right when he put it together with the woman. As if it was made especially for her.

"Kaa-san..." and he knew no more.

Tsunade knew of Naruto's hunting habits and since he refused to eat any of the food she made or bought him, she indirectly fed him by wounding animals so he would catch them and purifying water so he could drink without consequence. She did not know why she was helping this boy, all that she knew was that she wanted to and nothing would stop her. He would allow her to heal him from poisoning and to change the bandages on his stomach but other than that he would only follow after her as she travelled. Tsunade quickly noticed he watched her intently at all times, as if studying some specimen that constantly confounded him with its actions. That's probably what she was to him, she mused once. Obviously no one had ever given him this kind of attention or care before. This thought disturbed her to her very core. She knew he held the demon within him, but how could the villagers treat him as the beast? He was an innocent child! If it wasn't for him, the entire village would be rubble right now! What was Sarutobi-sensei thinking? She was glad she left the village all those years ago, and these recent turn of events made her disgust with the village even more profound. From somewhere behind her she heard a weak voice call for his mother. Thinking about family made her more depressed and angry. Clearing her head of morbid thoughts she looked around for her unofficial charge, only to find him not behind her. Panic quickly took over as she searched the busy street for him, there was no flash of bright blond hair anywhere.

"Brat!" she yelled, frantic worry clear in her voice. She didn't want to scream his name in case there were people from the leaf village somewhere near-by. That would cause problems. But as the seconds slowly turned to minutes and then the minutes slowly turned into an hour as time ticked by with her finding no sign of him, her fear about what others would think was pretty much thrown out the window, violently. She was about 3 seconds away from a mental breakdown, when she overheard a whispered conversation that made her blood freeze in fear and boil in rage at the same time.

"Did you see how it was snivelling?" snickered one

"Yeah, probably trying to trick us with its demon wits, making us think it was really a small child, rather than a blood-thirsty demon,' snorted the other.

"He'll need to be better than that if it even hopes of convincing us it's not the demon it is. My father fought the beast and recognised the blonde hair and blue eyes straight away. Who does it think it is? Crying for its mummy, it doesn't _have _a family. It's a demon!"

"I know right? But who would have thought that it would bleed red? I thought demons had black blood?"

"Must be more of its demon magic at work, we'll have to cut deep for its true colour to show. After all, we can cut it as much as we want, remember how it heals almost instantly? Even though it's lost enough blood for three normal people it still remains conscious! I wonder what would happen if we severed its fingers?"

"Should make for a fun evening," the man smirked. They got no further in their conversation however, as a fist came flying out of nowhere and struck the first man in the face, sending him flying into the wall on the other side of the street. He fell to the ground unconscious, blood running from his temple. His friend looked at him horrified before turning his gaze towards the one that had struck him. Tsunade stalked towards the fear stricken man, hate and rage clear in her glare that was aimed at the man. Lifting him up by the front of his shirt, Tsunade spoke low and threateningly,

"Where is he?" she demanded. Her voice wavering with the amount of emotion it carried. "Where did you take him?" The man was officially wetting himself, literally. Tsunade looked at him in disgust as he emptied his bladder and his legs lost the strength to carry him. Throwing him against the wall she demanded from him again, "WHERE IS HE?" she practically screamed, he throat sore from the intensity of her yell. Dizzy the man pointed down the street to an alleyway shrouded in shadow.

"T-theres a d-door in there, i-i-it leads to a room where t-the demon is-" he got no further as Tsunade knocked him unconscious the second the word demon left his mouth. Shaking with barely suppressed rage, she made her way to the alleyway the man pointed to. It was dark and out of the way, she wouldn't have noticed it if she wasn't looking for it. Walking to the entrance she noticed a trail on the ground that led to a door, as if something was dragged through here recently. Not thinking twice about what was dragged though here, she followed it to the door. Just as she was about to kick open the door she paused, on the door handle was blood, fresh blood too. She could hear a child crying on the other side of the door.

Anger clouded her vision as she kicked the door clean off its hinges. It smashed into the wall on the opposite side of the room. It was small and unfurnished. A single, flickering light hung down from the roof in the centre of the room, illuminating a small bloody figure surrounded by a group of men whose heads turned at the sound of their door being broken. Tsunade's gaze zeroed in on the crying figure. Once bright blonde hair was now dirty and bloodied. You couldn't even tell the colour his clothes once were, for they were now forever stained red. The men weren't kidding when they said he'd lost enough blood for three people, there was a deep puddle surrounding the child, almost as if he was swimming in it. The walls were splattered and sprayed with the red liquid. It looked like a massacre had happened in this room, she thought dizzily. Her limbs started to shake as she was overwhelmed with the stench of blood. Her long forgotten fear re-surfacing in all its terrible might. She had once been a great medic in her prime, but the loss of her little brother and her fiancé had left her with a mind-numbing fear of the vital liquid. As she was trying to control her terror one man circled her, unnoticed. The bold man lifted a bat that he had just been using to break the child's limbs, and brought it down to connect with her head. Just before it made contact a small voice rang out shrilly in the dank, dark room.

"KAA-SAN!"

...

He was fascinated by the way the demon would heal itself. It had become a game to him, to see how much the thing could handle before it finally died. When he saw the beast he was horrified that it was still alive, and walking _ freely _no less. He had lost his brother in the attack of the demon almost 3 and half years ago now. How could the Leaf let it go feely? He had thought. So he had smashed him on the back of the head and dragged him here to end the life it didn't deserve. But to his dismay, and fascination, the thing wouldn't die. He had cut numerous vital points and watched him bleed excessively, and the demon still wouldn't die. When it woke up from the blow to the head, it had cried pathetically. Had it been a normal child, the cries of pain and look of naked terror in its eyes would have haunted him for the rest of his life. As it was the cries and expression the beast made each time he struck it with a different weapon made him cackle in cruel delight. This is type of suffering it deserved for the horror it had unleashed that day. And so he had played his game, the same repetitive motions over and over.

_Snap, _**scream, **_laugh, _**heal, **_Snap, _**scream, **_laugh, _**heal, **_Snap, _**scream, **_laugh, _**heal, **but it was still conscious. So he had called his friends and his son to join in the fun. Now his game had more stages. _Snap, _**scream, **_stab, _**scream, **_slice, _**scream, **_laugh, jeer, ridicule, _**heal, **no matter what they did he always **healed.** And so his game would start again, each time they added something different to the mix. A tear here, a gouge there, rub salt in his wounds before they healed so it was sealed underneath the skin and burned him from the inside, set parts of him on fire and see if the demon's healing power would put it out or just constantly heal the burned area over and over until the fire burned itself out. That had been one of the best ones yet, he took immense satisfaction from watching the beast writhe in agony as the fire ate his skin. One of his friends had the brilliant idea of pouring acid onto his flesh and watch which one was faster. His ability to heal or the speed of the liquid eating his skin away? That had been interesting. It had taken a while to find the answer, some of them even put bets on which would win. The creature's screams of suffering and agony had made it all the more entertaining. The flesh had bubbled and burned away, exposing the soft muscle tissue of his entire stomach for a while before the healing ability kicked in. The edges of the wound had grown and shrunk for almost half an hour before the healing ability was victorious. This was accompanied by groans of disappointment by those who had bet on the acid winning. They were about to do it again, this time they would spit on the exposed muscles that the flesh eating acid had revealed and see if that aided the chemical in any way, when the door had been blasted off its hinges and in the doorway, shaking with rage was a very well endowed woman. As the woman had stepped in the room he had felt fear for the first time since the attack of the demon, before rage took over. Who was she to interrupt his game? The demon deserved it! She must be punished, he thought. A lecherous grin spread over his face as he thought of ways to 'punish' her. She could join his game. And there were many ways of breaking a woman that you just couldn't do with a man, must more... pleasurable... ways. He crept around to surprise her from the back. She seemed to be distracted by something, her limbs were shaking with some strong emotion he didn't care to place. He brought the club he was favouring lately on the beast down on her head, just as a voice pierced through previous silence of the room since the woman busted the door.

"KAA-SAN!"

...

The presence in the back of Naruto's mind was warring between anger, concern and sympathy. It was taxing itself with the constant healing of all these serious injuries. If it wasn't for the presence, Naruto would be dead thirty times over. It couldn't let up or it would mean the end of the boy. He was beyond hate towards these cretins for what they did to the child. It wasn't his fault that he was sealed in him! Guilt would have overcome him if it weren't for the severity of the situation. He needed to think of a way out of this, but he was helpless. In his condition the boy wouldn't last if he starts to posses him, he probably couldn't even handle a single tail of his power! He focused on beating the poison that was being poured on the boy's navel. It was even more taxing then healing the knife wounds to his vital points, fatigue started to plague the presence's mind. He couldn't last much longer, his power was severely diminished in this form, and he couldn't help the blonde at all. He was preparing for another round against the acid when he sensed a disturbance in the outside world. Mentally thanking whatever gods had decided to give them a reprieve he paid attention to the world outside his prison.

...

...

Naruto was in a living hell. Every time one of the men brought something into contact with his skin he couldn't hold back the pain filled screams that tore themselves from his throat. His body was accustomed to this pain and the last four months had healed him of all of his scars and wounds from his nightly beating he used to get in the Leaf village. But this was different. They were beatings; stones, sticks, fist and knives were used. But this was different. Occasionally he was penetrated in the vilest ways, but they were more of a fortnightly thing than daily. But this was different. He was used to being beaten. He wasn't used to being _tortured. _Pain overloaded his senses, adrenaline kept him awake and alert no matter how much he wished for the dark embrace of unconsciousness or even death. But what terrified him the most was that all of their faces looked like _him. _The masked man that commanded lightning. He was still after him, still after his life. Each leer, glare, smirk, laugh, each smug smile was _his. _Every bad person ever since that day held his face. That hidden face with the scarecrow white hair. It followed him in his dreams, he saw flashes of blue constantly in the corners of his eyes, and every bird chirp had him cowering in fear. He knew that it wasn't really him that was hurting him now, but he couldn't help it, the man followed him everywhere, so now, accompanying the agonizing, unbearable pain was the memories of the night he had a fist shoved through his chest and each of his cells were electrocuted. He felt close to insanity as his memories and the new pain worked together to destroy his mind.

He wondered vaguely what 'kaa-san', the woman, was doing now. Did she notice that he was gone? Did she care? Was she happy he was gone? Cruel despair flooded his system, almost as strong as the pain and terror that currently possessing his small body. He had tried not to get too attached to the woman, but he obviously failed. He had seen her, wounding animals and purifying water when she thought he wasn't looking, or when they went to a busy market place and the jostling people knocked him, she was there using her body as a shield from the throngs of people. He pretended that he didn't notice and she did the same. No matter what he did, she wouldn't hit him or beat him. When she tried to feed him for the first time and he refused, she didn't force him. She just left it there and went outside. That was the first time he saw a wounded animal that he made his dinner. He remembered when he tried a mushroom that was growing in one of the forests they walked past, he spent the next two days throwing up and she didn't leave his side. She stayed with him, she didn't continue her journey or abandon him on the side of the road, and she helped him get better. The next day he had found she left to go to the market and on the table were a bunch of books about poisonous plants and healing herbs. That was the first time he smiled since he left the Leaf.

He was torn from his peaceful memories by a burning, searing pain along his stomach. His throat was bloodied from his screams and his had lost his voice was raw from his protests, but still this pain was pain he had never felt before. If there were windows in this room they would have shattered at the intensity of his agony filled screams. The warm feeling of healing had been long forgotten in his pain. He could feel it as it fought against whatever was dissolving his stomach. He could feel each molecule and atom get destroyed and healed, only to be destroyed again. The feeling of his skin dissolving, burning, sizzling, as it was eaten away went on forever. Time seemed to have stopped and left him in an endless loop of suffering. He wished for death to release him, he longed for it. Was living really worth it if it meant this kind of pain?

It seemed like an eternity had passed when the burning of the acid finally faded away. Ever since the torture had started he had been unable to close his eyes, they remained widened in horror, anguish, agony and pain. So he was aware of all of their taunting, jeering and immense pleasure at seeing him suffer, it also meant he saw they were going to pour more of the burning liquid on him. Terror curled in his stomach as he imagined going through that endless burning agony again. He watched in morbid anticipation as the man who grabbed him lifted a vial above him. Just as he was about to tip the liquid on his newly healed stomach, he saw the door fly across the room. The men's attention instantly diverted to the distraction, and he curled himself into a ball, a futile attempt at protecting himself. Seconds ticked by with no one harming him, he peaked around his arm that was covering his head and saw an angel. An avenging angel. The women stood there, blonde pigtails flying, anger radiating off her in waves. Hers eyes locked on to his prone form and horror and fear filled her eyes. Her body started to shake. Naruto was confused, was she scared for him? Or of something else? He had no time to ponder this though, as he spotted the man who was the cause of all this creep around to the woman's blind spot. He raised the bat that was minutes ago breaking his bones and was about to bring it down on her head. He couldn't let this happen. She was the only person in the world who was nice to him. She didn't beat him. She didn't call him names. She fed him. She cared for him. Just as it was about to make contact with her head he yelled out, as loud as he could, desperation filled his voice, fear for her gave him the energy to make it cut through the surprised silence that had descended since her arrival.

"KAA-SAN!" his voiced cracked as his throat tore for the intensity of his cry. He watched as his voiced reached through whatever veil was shrouding Tsunade's mind. Her head snapped up and her gaze locked with his. Her eyes held fierce determination and anger, he maternal instincts were on hyper-drive as she dodged the bat that barely missed her head. She brought her fist up and smashed the man's nose, forcing the bone to drive straight through to his brain, killing him instantly. Before the body fell to the ground, Tsunade was on the other men in the room. Her fists turned bloody as they pounded into the soft bodies of her boy's torturers. Her rage would not be quenched however, as she made her way around the room, utterly destroying all of the occupants except Naruto, she had seen the weapons they had used. The used gasoline and matches, the bloodied knives and bats, the beakers full of acid, fury and hate turned her vision red as she rounded on the dead body of her first victim. The one who had started all of this. She brought her foot to meet his stomach forcing him into the wall. She approached the body again, beating it, pounding it, crushing it. She didn't stop. The corpse had stopped resembling a human being and looked more like a broken pile of mush as bones were broken and flesh was bloodied. Over and over she muttered the same thing,

"How dare you, how _fucking dare _you! Never touch him again! Never touch my child... my boy... how _fucking dare _you!" Her legs were stained red with blood, her hands as well, but she couldn't care less, she had to protect her child. Just as she brought her leg back to kick the body again, she felt a small pair of hands grasp her leg. She turned and her gaze fell on the clearest pair of blue eyes she had ever seen.

His face was caked in blood, tear stains ran over his scarred cheeks, his hair was matted and crusty, his clothes were torn and bloodied, but his eyes were the brightest blue. They pleaded with her to stop, to take care of him, to comfort him. She didn't think twice, stopping down, she pulled him to her and crushed him to her embrace. He hesitated for a second before the tears fell again, his small hands clutched the front of her shirt, fabric bunched tightly into small fists, as though if his grip loosens in the slightest she would disappear and the men would come back. Tsunade rocked back and forth, incoherent but soothing words coming from her mouth as she comforted the boy. Now the adrenaline rushing through her system had run its course, what he had yelled out to save her finally sunk in. She tried to pull back from him, but he refused to relinquish his hold on her shirt and buried his head deeper into her chest, sobs still racking his small body. Rubbing soothing circles on his back, she tried to talk to him.

"Naruto...?" she asked softly. He didn't answer, but his sobs died down. "Naruto, honey, what did you call me before?" He stiffened at the question, but then realised her voice was gentle and held no hidden anger or disgust at him. He slowly raised his head to meet her gaze. A light blush tinted his cheeks.

"K-kaa-san..." he mumbled before burying his head in her chest again. He was scared she would reject him, hate him for calling her such a name. The presence in the back of his mind seemed to purr in satisfaction. The moments dragged by and he heard nothing from the woman who held him so securely. He was about to disentangle himself from her when he felt a drop of moisture on his blood caked head. Looking up at her again, he was surprised to see tears cascading freely down her cheeks. He was horrified at the thought he had upset her by calling her that name and was about to apologize before noticing her lips stretched in a wide smile of pure happiness. He looked at her in amazement before summing up the courage to speak again. "C-can I call you kaa-san? ...please?" he asked almost desperately. Tsunade brought a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp/ sob of pleasure. Not trusting her voice, she simply nodded, before hugging the child to her again. Naruto was shocked to say the least. She had accepted him. She wanted him. She had saved him and she would be him mother. Hugging his new mum as close as possible he cried once again, saying her name over and over.

"Kaa-san, kaa-san, kaa-san, kaa-san, kaa-san, kaa-san,"

_End Flashback._

Shrugging off pleasant, yet morbid memories, Naruto focused on finding his other teammate. It took a while though, longer than he thought it would, because she was running around. Naruto snorted in amusement as he realized she was literally running around in circles. Seemed like she was looking for something, or someone. Rolling his eyes at her sheer stupidity, he settled on his branch to wait for an opportunity in which he could lend his _skills _to his unofficial team.

* * *

After writing this I realised i might have some serious issues or am deeply disturbed :S but i will solve them later, now on with the Kyuubi inspiration! Please RxR! ^^


	18. Chapter 17

Before you all beat me up for not updating sooner... I'M SORRY! Listening to a lecture right now so I may get kinda sidetracked. Been rather sidetracked lately and I totally forgot about this story! Main reason I got back to it was my sister has really gotten into it and demanded I continued. Seriously, she was just short of tying me to a chair and torturing me until I got to it, so in the interest of my health and safety, I deliver a chapter. On the bright side, it's the longest chapter I've written so far! Hopefully its good enough you'll forgive me and I'm planning on updating really, really, REALLY soon. (for fear of my sister's wrath) Anyway, enjoy!

P.S. Like to thank TheDragonSage for all of the writing tips they've been giving me! Helped me sooooo much! One of the reasons why I have been able to up my word count so much ^^

* * *

Naruto was bored. He sat in his tree, waiting for something to happen. _Hours _had gone by and nothing had happened. Well nothing interesting. Sakura was still running around in circles searching for her precious Sasuke. Kakashi was leaning against a tree reading a book that Naruto had a strong suspicion was totally inappropriate for such a time, but then again anything written by the pervy-sage was inappropriate at ANY time. A small smile of fondness appeared on Naruto's face as he thought of the deeply perverse old man. He remembered Jiraiya had decided to stay with him and Tsunade after their first meeting to help train him.

_Flashback_

"WAKEY WAKEY BRAT!" and overly enthusiastic voice yelled, bringing Naruto out of the sweet clutches of the dream realm. The pet fox next to his pillow stretched and yawned, before curling up and promptly falling asleep again. Naruto opened his eyes blearily and glared at the offender who had ruined a perfect dream of his. Three simple words; Pool, Of, Ramen. Jiraiya grinned at the look he received from his new (but as of yet uninformed) pupil. If looks could kill he would be feeling the effects of that glare in the next life. Must be something Tsunade taught him, that women had a natural charm that screamed 'touch me and I'll slaughter you'. In which he had personal experience as he had attempted to touch her, numerous times, only to end up in hospital, the only people that seemed to be able to handle her were him, the brat and Shizune. Speaking of which he hadn't seen her yet, must be on some errand for Tsunade. Clearing his head from his musings he looked back at his new charge and noticed he had rolled over and gone asleep again. Jiraiya had to admire the fact he wasn't clutching his ears from the force of his yell. He had been more than once told he had, let's just say, an extremely loud voice. Deciding this task was going to need more effort he formulated a plan in his head and quickly pulled out some wire. At the sound of wire being pulled, the fox raised its head and observed what the toad man was doing. Quicker than a heartbeat it was off the bed and well out of the way.

"Lesson no. 1, brat: Listen when I talk to you" he stated with an evil grin. The fox grinned as well. Looks like this morning was going to be entertaining, at least, for him it will.

...

"Cannonball!" Naruto yelled taking a running leap before jumping into the Olympic size pool. As he broke the surface, it wasn't water that surged and splashed around him, it was ramen. Ramen, it was the food of the gods. In Naruto's personal opinion there should be a shine dedicated to the inventor of such a delicious food, but he had no idea exactly who invented the treat so he settled of praising the food itself. At the end of the pool, a colossal fox lay, basking in the sun. Its nine tails swaying contentedly as he relaxed.

'**You realise you were woken for a reason a few minutes ago' **the fox stated casually. Naruto looked up from slurping the world's longest ramen noodle to look at the fox. Swallowing quickly he answered.

"I don't care. This is the best dream ever! No way is some pervy-sage going to ruin it for me. Plus you're happy in this too! It's been ages since my mind has been this calm for you to be out of the cage. I know you can run around in that baby fox I found a while ago but it's not really you. You just watch what happens from its view. You can't say this is a nice change. How long has it been since you've been able to move all of your tails?"

"**True, this is a good stretch, but the man who woke you will be useful. You should have woken when he told you too. But at least I will have some entertainment this morning," **he finished in a very evil and very fox-like grin. Naruto looked clueless.

"Huh?"

"**Enjoy your trip,"** was all Kyuubi said before a very sharp tugging on his ankle literally pulled him from his dream. The last thing he saw before he dream completely dissolved was Kyuubi laughing his head off.

...

Naruto gave a strangled yell as he was wrenched from the warm comfort of his bed. The force around his ankle didn't cease though as it dragged him out of his room and along the corridor. A door ahead of him opened and he saw Tsunade look out to see what all the commotion was. Seeing Naruto being pulled down the hallway, she smirked.

"Morning Naruto. Just some advice; when he tells you to wake up, I recommend waking up," she said as he zoomed past her. Naruto just stared at her in disbelief as he continued on his morning journey. The speed of the force pulling him increased as he was dragged along. He managed to wrench the top half of his body up to see there was a wire wrapped around his ankle. Following the wire he saw it lead into the kitchen. He twisted his body and tried to free his ankle before the very sharp turn in the wire's course. As if sensing Naruto's attempts at freedom the force pulling the wire quickened. With growing dread Naruto eyed the quickly approaching corner, finger's fumbling in his desperation. He didn't make it. As the wire pulled him into the kitchen, his momentum was too much and he swung out wide, head banging against the frame of the door. Shaking the dizziness from his head he looked up at the course the wire had been plotted out for him, and instantly wished he didn't.

Out in the front yard of the house Jiraiya leaned against a tree with a book in his hand, cheerfully listening to the bangs and yells from, the baby fox sitting at his side. Hearing his charge coming to the end of his course he started reciting from the book in his hand.

"Ninja wire: One of a ninja's basic yet essential tools. Favoured for setting traps or basic perimeter alarm systems. It is incredibly sturdy and strong being able to hold the weight of at least three average sized ninja. Very versatile and can be used in an almost infinite number of situations." He closed the book and watched as his pupil came careening out of the front door and straight at him.

"In this case, used as an alarm system to wake a very heavy sleeper." He grinned, "and also give a warning about what will happen next time he doesn't wake up," at his feet the fox was rolling on his back making what appeared to be laughing sounds. Naruto suddenly felt himself being jerked upward as the force pulling the wire stopped. He hung upside down from the tree Jiraiya was leaning against and was still rocking back and forth from his momentum. Clearing the sight of little foxes running around his head he assessed the state he was in after his morning adventure. He was covered in flour, honey, feathers, eggs and he was pretty sure he could see the remainder of some tomatoes on him as well; his entire back was covered in purple paint and was fairly certain his hair was no longer the blonde locks he had inherited from his father.

The trip had brought him into the kitchen in which the wire was wrapped around the table numerous times. Each time he was dragged around it set off a trap that covered him in some sort of substance that left him feeling sticky, dusty, dry, itchy, gooey and slimy all at the same time. It then took him into the foyer in which it seemed to enjoy dragging him over a strip of bright purple paint. He could see the door and was relieved when he thought the end was near, but the worst had yet to come. As the wire pulled he was forced through the legs of many tables that had some funny smelling liquid in bowls on them and as he was pulled through they all fell on his head.

As he dangled from the tree he could see the liquid dripping of him and making bright pink splotches that clashed horribly with the pristine green grass. _Bright pink..._

"You didn't!" he half accused, half begged. The sight of Jiraiya's triumphant grin was all the confirmation he needed to determine he was now the owner of a head of bright pink spiky hair. The fox was having trouble breathing it was laughing so hard. From the depths of his mind Naruto heard the Kyuubi barely make out,

"**Told... you... so..."** before he couldn't even sustain a mind link with him he was laughing so hard. Oh it was SO on. He would get the perv back, even if it killed him! Leaving plans of revenge for a later time he returned to the problem at hand.

"And why did you need to wake me up in this welcoming manner this morning?" he demanded. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Jiraiya lost the evil grin and got serious, although there was still a slight twitch to his mouth.

"From today onwards you're gonna be learning from me. Tsunade will still teach you what she can but it will mostly be me," He declared to the dangling boy. Naruto just stared at him, doubtful. He crossed his arms and tried to look indifferent but the effect was lost when he was hanging upside down from a tree and being covered in god knows what.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Don't need it. I don't wanna be a ninja and kaa-san is gonna teach me medic jutsu. Plus I don't need you anyway." Jiraiya raised his brow at this.

"And, pray tell, how are you going to get down from that tree without any serious ninja skills?" the fox sweat dropped at the reference to ninja skills again. "Your mum won't interfere because I told her not to, so come on tough guy. Show me how you are going to do it by yourself." Jiraiya smirked, thinking he had the boy cornered. Naruto just looked at him like he was insane. Putting his fingers to his lips he blew a quick short whistle. In a blur of red fur, the fox had leaped and used its sharp claws to cut the wire. Feeling gravity taking its hold on him, Naruto quickly somersaulted and landed on his feet facing Jiraiya and caught the fox as it landed in his arms. Looking up at his incredulous face he stated quite clearly,

"You forget that I'm not alone," he grinned. Jiraiya had to hand it to the kid, he was resourceful. Ignoring the fact he had just been outwitted, by a seven year old, Jiraiya continued his morning lesson.

"Anyway," he said acting as if he hadn't just dragged the boy through the entire house and he wasn't covered in various substances that made him look like a very sticky, slimy chicken with a purple steak and outrageously bright pink hair, "From now on I'm gonna be travelling with you and the old woman and training you to be stronger." This made Naruto's interest perk up.

"But kaa-san already trains me. I can out run you," he reminded with a smirk. Jiraiya cringed at the memory. "And who's the old woman you're talking about?"

The white haired man smirked. "Tsunade of course. Although she may not look it, she's about my age." Naruto had to pick his jaw off the floor.

"But you're like ancient! Wait, you're more than ancient! You're fossilized!" protested the boy.

"Hey, hey, I'm not that old," muttered Jiraiya, nursing his wounded ego. "I can still attract the ladies," he said with a very perverted grin. Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, right. And where do you get them from? Retirement homes? The Sunday bingo game? Oh I know! You stake out a knitting club!" he declared before cracking up with laughter. Jiraiya frowned and almost pouted.

'And I chose to spend a couple of years with this brat training him... why?' he asked himself. He seriously started to question his sanity at this moment. His depressing thoughts were brightened considerably however when he heard Tsunade yell from the front door of the house.

"Just remember Naruto, be nice! He's the one training you from now on. It's up to you how Spartan he decides it's going to be!" Naruto froze, instantly regretting his previous comments at the pure evil glint in his new sensei's eyes.

"**If it's going to be anything like this morning, I think I'm going to enjoy myself..."**

_End Flashback_

Naruto frowned when he remembered the detail of their first _lesson._ It had taken him weeks to get that stuff out of his hair. Needless to say, when was told to wake up, he woke up... still it didn't stop him from getting back at the perverted man. Oh yes, that was the beginning of an all out war of pranks between the two of them. On more than one occasion Tsunade had to step in before they both destroyed the house or village or scarred some kids for life...Beside him he could hear Kyuubi laughing silently as he remembered the various incidents too. But Jiraiya had an unfair advantage to the war, he was his sensei... Oh yes, his training was _beyond _Spartan, it was bordering on homicidal. He may act like a complete idiot some of the time, oh who was he kidding, _all of the time, _but he wasn't called one of the Sannin for nothing. Then when he was halfway through training him, Tsunade had decided to participate as well. Naruto shuddered at her version of evading training. Getting very heavy, very hard objects thrown at you when you're defenceless is not good for your health. But hey, at least he got medical ninjutsu training done at the same time. It was like killing two birds with one stone... still hurt a hell of a lot though...

A scream brought him back to his surroundings. Cursing himself for getting lost in his thoughts and memories, he identified the scream coming from his female companion, Sakura her name was, although Pinky suited her just fine. Leaping from his tree he dashed toward the sound, leaving Fang to look over his other team mate. She may be useless but he needed her to pass this test right now.

...

Sakura was having a horrible time. First she skipped breakfast _and _dinner last night to save herself the embarrassment of throwing up in front of her Sasuke. That's right all you other harpies out there! _Her _Sasuke! Getting onto the same team as him just proved they were meant to be together! Her thoughts started to turn dreamy when she thought of their future together. The way Sasuke would stand in front of her to protect her on a future mission, and then when she would question him about it and he would like away as if embarrassed, a light blush covering his cheeks. He would mumble something that she wouldn't be able to quite catch and she would ask him to repeat himself. He would take a deep breath and turn to face her with determination in his eyes and say,

"I couldn't stand it if you were hurt and I wasn't there to protect you. I love you Sakura." And she would stare at him with warmth blossoming in her chest, unable to say anything due the choking happiness that surged through her veins. He would take her silence as a rejection and start to turn away from her, his stoic mask back in place, but his eyes. His eyes would reflect the love he held for her and the depth of the pain he felt when he thought she didn't love him, but as he would turn away she would grab his arm. He would stare at her, mask still in place, but hope shining from his eyes and she would speak lowly and clearly,

"What was that last part again?" sounding disbelieving but hoping in every cell of her body he would say it again. He would turn to face her and stare deep into her eyes,

"I love you Sakura," he would breathe as if that one sentence made him whole. Happy tears would come to her eyes as she would smile up at him.

"I love you too, Sasuke," and then he would smile for the first time since she had met him and it would be the most dazzling smile ever because it would be because _she _made it happen. He would then bring his face to hers and gently, almost hesitantly touch his lips to hers. A mere brush, as if testing the waters. But she would allow none of that as she would wind her hands through his hair and bring his lips crashing down onto hers, all restraints gone. His arms would go around her as he would kiss her with such depth, such _passion _that set her body on fire.

Sakura moaned slightly as her fantasy started to turn more graphic. Yes, she would pass this test and her and Sasuke's future would be secure.

She already knew that the blonde kid had passed; he had somehow gotten a bell right of the bat. She didn't bother to learn his name because the only boy that mattered in her mind was Sasuke. Sakura thought it may have been set up, him having one right off the bat, but then seeing the waistband of their sensei only have one bell when seconds ago it had two quelled her doubts somewhat and she had run off hoping to find Sasuke so they could work together. She almost hoped they would then she would sacrifice the bell so he could go on to become a gennin and he would be touched by her sacrifice then declare that if she wasn't going to become one the he wasn't either and then she would hug him and he would hug her and the feel of her body against his would snap his control and then he would...

She shook herself from her pleasant but distracting thoughts. Yep she definitely needed to make this work. Running passed an oddly shaped bush she paused. _Haven't I been here before? _She asked herself. Looking around she noted several familiar sights. _I'VE BEEN GOING ROUND IN CIRCLES! _She mentally screamed_! _Her inner voice going crazy at the thought of losing Sasuke. She heard a rustling sound from the bushed to her right. Drawing a kunai she got in a defensive passion. When nothing came out and attacked her she relaxed.

"Sakuraaaa," a sing song voice said. "Turn around...," ignoring every instinct that told her to run she turned towards the voice that was behind her. Her heart froze in her chest when she saw her sensei's face mere inches from hers and his hands already in a sign that she did not recognize. She let out an ear-piercing scream before her vision was blurred by many leaves cascading around her. She grew drowsy for a moment before the leaves subsided and Kakashi's face disappeared. Shaking the drowsiness from her head she looked around frantically wondering what was going on.

"S-Sa... ku... r-ra," a weak voice sounded behind her. Recognising the voice of her beloved she whirled around quickly with a smile.

'Sasuke!" she greeted enthusiastically. Her happiness was short lived as she stared at her raven in horror. His clothes were bloodied and torn. Numerous kunai and shuriken pierced his body and in the places where flesh was visible was mutilated brutally. His right leg was twisted into an unnatural position and she swore she could see the white of bone underneath the gore. His left arm was missing from the forearm down, with blood oozing steadily from the wound. His right eye was closed but due to the blood running down his face or from some unseen injury she couldn't tell. He was on his knees and clutching a tree as though it was the only way for him to keep up. From his bloodied lips he struggled to say her name again.

"S-sak...ura... h-elp... help me..." he managed before falling face first into the dirt. Darkness on the edges of her vision closed around her and the last thing she saw was the look of frustration and annoyance on a blonde haired boy's face as he walked _through_ the body of her Sasuke.

...

Sasuke looked up from setting his trap. He could have sworn he heard Sakura screaming in the distance. Shrugging his shoulders slightly he dismissed the distraction and continued what he was doing. He didn't need her and there was only one bell left. He _will _pass this test and he _will _kill _him._ It was his goal in life and nothing would stop him. He would get that bell and continue on the path to power. Thinking of the test and power brought his thoughts round to the blonde haired enigma that had recently entered his life.

"Naruto," he said under his breath. Although he would never admit it out loud, he held a decent amount of respect for the boy; he even liked him a little bit. He was the only person his age that didn't suck up to him because he was an Uchiha, or because of his money and looks. Plus from what he had observed so far, he was just as alone as him (excluding the fox), maybe even more so. He had experience the pain of being lonely and isolated. The pain of existing in a world with no one to turn to. Also he beat Kenji which was a feat in its own. Since he was a chuunin and Naruto was just an academy student for just a day. He must have had some training done somewhere else. Maybe he would tell it to him so he could get stronger. Then there was his acquisition of the bell. He had been watching the interaction between the jounin and to-be gennin. He saw the bell there one second and when he blinked it was gone. Then he watched as the blonde pulled it from his pocket grinning. He hadn't seen him move at all! Obviously his sensei hadn't either because his face showed just as much shock as his. From then on he knew he had to step up and plan ahead if he even wanted to get close to that last bell. So he promptly left the scene and missed the last part of the conversation. Yes, the blonde could be helpful in his quest for revenge. Concentrating on the task at hand he got back to work.

Fang/ Kyuubi was watching the raven haired boy carefully. He had seen the child raise his head at the sound of the scream before dismissing it entirely. He had to admire his self-reliance but he was slightly disturbed by his lack of caring towards one of his somewhat teammate. He saw the child frown and barely caught the murmured "Naruto." Now Fang's interest was piqued. He didn't say anything else but the emotions that flashed across his face were fascinating. First there was respect that look very strange on the boy's face, as though it had never been there before. Then there was sadness as it looked like he was remembering his past, pain from his own experience or someone else's he couldn't tell. Dark amusement came next, Kyuubi could only think of someone suffering at this look, then that respect look again, almost boarding on awe this time. Must be thinking of Naruto's confrontation with Kenji. Then confusion and admiration. Must be thinking of the bell.

Fang grunted; it was him that had gotten the bell, although only two people noticed it. He was summoned on the opposite side of the field and had watched and waited for a signal, which was Naruto getting up off the tree, then he had smothered his chakra and grabbed the bell, making sure his speed was enough to keep him hidden but not enough that it caused any wind disturbance in the area, alerting others to another presence. That had been the tricky part. To be on the safe side he has to run along the crease caused by opposing wind currents, which made his trip rather long and swervy. He then had to grab the bell without it chiming or the masked man feeling it being removed, and then he had to follow the currents again and get away without him feeling him there, which is kinda hard when he was standing in the middle of the crease. Naruto must have noticed because he started talking again at this point, distracting the man. He vaguely noticed him reciting one of the lessons Tsunade beat into him... literally... he held back his laughter though and deposited the bell in one of his pockets, which was already opened as much as it could be without being suspicious. Being careful to make sure it didn't chime and there was no noticeable change in content of his pockets he quickly retreated. From the shadows he had watched Naruto pull out the bell casually, as if it didn't take all that work on Kyuubi's part. He sighed; he deserved so much more credit. Maybe he could guilt Naruto in allowing him to hunt in the forest; from here he could smell several rabbit holes. He was sure they didn't need that many around...

He managed to catch the ambitious and plotting look in the Uchiha's eyes before he put his attention back on his trap. Fang sighed, seemed like he had nothing to do until Naruto or the masked man appeared.

...

Kakashi was fretting, although his mask wouldn't show it. But still... how could he loose a student? He remembered leaving Sakura passed out in the middle of the clearing, then he returned to his book, waiting to see if she would get out of the genjutsu by herself or not. Thinking back he might have gone a bit over the top but hey, ninja's need to expect the unexpected right? And all she was doing was running around in circles. He'd been watching her for a while, even when he face turned many different shades of red that had him wondering at what she was thinking or imagining. But that's not what the problem was now. For when he looked up after a while seeing as she had made no noise or sign at all of waking up, she was simply gone. Kakashi thought there was something wrong with his eye so he blinked a couple of times and rubbed it but the clearing was still empty. He thought he heard suppressed chuckling from somewhere but he put it out of his mind as he thought of ways he could have missed her waking up and running away. She couldn't have run; she wasn't quite enough. The sound of her running around in circles could have matched a stampede! He tried releasing himself of a genjutsu thinking she might have placed him in one for revenge, but no. He wasn't in a genjutsu. He checked himself over for any pinpricks that would have suggested he had been infected with some hallucinogen, but there was none. He thought back to the food he had eaten and tried to think if any of it might have caused him some sort of reaction, but no. He'd been eating the same for the past week.

Ok, now he was starting to panic. She must be here somewhere! He tried searching for her chakra signature, he spotted Sasuke's. Seem like he was waiting for him to come to him. That ought to be interesting, but unimportant right now. Sakura's wasn't anywhere! The only people in the training field where him and Sasuke! He thought about using his Sharingan to look and was about to reveal it when the whistling of a kunai coming at him caught his attention. Predicting the path of its trajectory, he caught it in his fingers. Attached to it was a note.

_To our caring and attentive sensei,_

_Due to the fact that one of my fellow students was under a genjutsu and fearing for her sanity I have taken it upon myself to remove her from this area to heal her and make her ready again for this 'test'. You should not bother looking for you shall not find her for another few minutes and may as well go to the Uchiha who is waiting patiently for you._

_Regards_

_Your adoring student_

_Naruto NSU_

_P.S. This letter will self destruct. Have a nice day._

He could feel the sarcasm and contempt coming from the note. He sighed; he was probably never going to get his forgiveness. But he was incredibly impressed and wary at the amount of skill he has been displaying. It was easily chuunin, no, it was jounin or higher. He must have received outside training from a very skilled teacher. He must be sure to include this in his report to the Hokage. The NSU especially had him confused. He knew the U was for Uzumaki, his mother's maiden name, and the N... could he know about his true heritage? If he did then the grudge against the village must be immense as the Fourth was barely recognised as the hero that saved it nowadays. It was mostly put down as the village that destroyed the fox, not the Fourth. The fox... Kakashi's eyes widened. If he knew about his father then... his thoughts were interrupted however by a crackling sound coming from the kunai. Focusing his gaze on the handle his eyes widened in realisation as he reread the last line of the note before flinging the kunai as far away from him as possible. It had barely cleared the tree-line of the clearing before a small explosion shook the earth and caused birds to take flight. Kakashi just stared. If he hadn't thrown that in time he would severely maimed, not dead but severely maimed. It seems it had enough power to injure but not to kill, one that was favoured for capture and torture over kill. He shuddered. Yep, he wasn't getting any forgiveness anytime soon. Getting his book back out he started his way towards the one student he _could _find.

...

Naruto smirked when he heard and felt the explosion. Wondering whether or not his sensei had gotten away in time to avoid injury he brought his attention back to the unconscious female he had in his arms. She was no longer in a genjutsu but had opted to stay in the realm of unconsciousness and sleep rather than become alert to the threats around her, such as Naruto and Kakashi. Although he had to admit, he was impressed she came out of the jutsu by herself, even if it was to go to sleep. She must be a very strong genjutsu type if she was able to do this much without training or trying. She must have done it subconsciously. He decided not to wake her just yet; he wanted to save his ears from the almost guaranteed screech of her voice when she woke. Keeping an eye on Kakashi's and Sasuke's chakra signatures he made his way back to the tree he left Kyuubi in, Sakura still unconscious in his arms.

Kyuubi was getting rather bored. The Uchiha had finished his trap and seemed content to wait around until his new sensei showed up, which wouldn't be long because he could sense that the masked man was making his way here slowly. He grinned when he remembered the explosion he had heard a short time ago. Had all the signs of Naruto's handiwork. A grunt distracted him from observing the stuck up brat in front of him to the base of the tree he was perched in. Gazing down he saw Naruto had unceremoniously dumped the pink haired female on the ground and was currently scaling the tree.

"**and do I want to know why you were carrying an unconscious female in your arms?" **he questioned, with a playful grin on his face. Naruto looked at him in disgust.

"You're not seriously thinking I did _anything _with _that!_" he exclaimed, careful to keep his voice down to not alert the boy in the field or the stirring female at the bottom of the tree.

"**True, you're too much of a prude to take advantage of such an easy target, Now if she was a few years older kit..." **he licked his chops in a very suggestive way that made Naruto shiver.

"Now I know you've been hanging around the pervy-sage _way _too much," he commented dryly. To which the fox just chuckled and decided not to answer. They sat there in companionable silence for awhile, the only sound heard was the birds chirping and the occasional groan as Sakura was slowly returning to consciousness. It wasn't long however before Kakashi made an appearance in the clearing leaning against a tree, facing the back of the Uchiha.

"You know, if you don't try something soon you're not going to get a bell before lunch," he stated calmly. Sasuke continued to face forwards, the only sign that he had surprised was the stiffening of his shoulders.

"I'm not like Sakura. I can do this on my own." He said frostily. From up in his tree branch Naruto murmured to Fang,

"You know, if they turn out to be related or he stole his girlfriend or something, this would be way up there with some soap operas!" Fang snorted before returning his attention to the soon to be battle.

"well we'll just have to see about that, won't we?" Kakashi said again, still in that bored tone he seemed to permanently employ.

"Just don't regret those words,' Sasuke said under his breath before whirling about and throwing a kunai straight at the jounin's face. Kakashi tilted his head to the side to avoid the projectile and almost failed to notice the second one coming straight towards where he had just moved his head. Only the slight widening of his eyes portrayed his shock at the knowledge of this kid knowing the shadow shuriken jutsu. Snatching the second kunai from the air he immediately flicked his wrist and sent it soaring straight back to Sasuke who had to leap out of the way to avoid the sharp weapon. Kakashi sighed.

'Looks like I won't be able to read my book this time." His tone holding a tinge of regret. Sasuke frowned in irritation, offended that he wasn't being taken seriously. He eyes Kakashi, imagining many descriptive ways on which that book could be shoved up a certain part of his anatomy. Kakashi must have seen the speculative look in his eyes, as his assumed a fighting position rather hurriedly. "Now, come."

Sasuke wasted no time. Throwing a barrage of kunai and shuriken, he chased the masked man until he was cornered in front of a tree. Marking his position carefully he threw another knife off to the side. "You know, those are kunai, not boomerangs. They won't come back to you, you have to actually aim.' Stated Kakashi in his bored tone. His superior attitude was cut short however when he heard the distinct sound of metal cutting through air. Coming from both sides were numerous weapons all aimed at various vital points. Showing a disturbing advanced flexibility for someone his age, ninja or not, he managed to avoid them all, not realizing he had just fallen into Sasuke's trap. Ninja wire was attached to each of the weapons and had successfully trapped him against the tree.

Naruto watched on highly entertained, although visions of disgustingly bright pink hair kept flashing over his vision at the sight of the ninja wire. The Uchiha kid was as good as he thought he would be. He might be able to help him in the coming battles and possible war. Wait, he wasn't here to recruit people! He had a mission and that was all. No point in getting attached, when they learn they will resent him like they should. He didn't need more pain or any roots here. He sighed, the things he did for his mother... Naruto felt a slight vibration to his side and he looked down to see Kyuubi shivering in excitement. Looking back at the clearing and ongoing skirmish he found out why. Sasuke had used a fire jutsu to attempt to fry their sensei. The thing this fox had for fire was beyond him. Naruto grinned ferally, wishing the pale skinned boy all the luck in the world in burning the lightning wielding jounin. But alas it was not meant to be as the skilled senior ninja appeared behind the young prodigy using a simple substitution and shushin jutsu.

"Wow, that was actually impressive for someone your age." He stated, still in that bored tone that came naturally to him. Sasuke whirled and faced the man. Sweat had started to gather on his brow and his breaths were coming in pants. He was wearing down. That fire jutsu had taken a lot out of him. He may know the jutsu, but he still only had the chakra reserves of a gennin. He calmed his breathing and rushed at the man. Naruto raised an eyebrow. That was just plain stupid. Kakashi seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He had actually had some hope for this kid, but now it seems like he's thrown away all commonsense, what a waste.

He deftly blocked the first punched and twisted his grip so now he was holding onto Sasuke's arm, preventing him from further attacking with that arm. Sasuke twisted and aimed a kick at his head; Kakashi blocked it with his other hand. Turning his body so hid head was now below his body he kicked his other leg out forcing Kakashi to block it with Sasuke's already imprisoned limbs.

Either this kid wanted to show off his incredible stupidity or he just liked getting pinned by older men, thought Naruto amused and disappointed at the Uchiha child. He was about to intervene in the very one sided match, but stopped short when he saw Sasuke's arrogant smirk. The sweat had disappeared from his forehead and his breathing was even, before was just an act to get the enemy to fall into his trap... and he had fallen straight into it. Kakashi did not see the smirk, but he did feel when Sasuke's free hand wrapped around the last bell and tried to tug it free. Kakashi's eyes widened as he realized the trap he had walked straight into.

Naruto decided now was the time to – assist – the raven haired boy. Showing his plan to Kyuubi, they both leaped from the tree and ran into the field. Once again running along the crease in the wind currents, Kyuubi ran right u to the bell and cut the tie holding it, allowing it to fall into Sasuke's hand. Naruto, using the same technique, ran behind Kakashi, and placed a small stone just behind his foot to offset his balance. As quickly as they came, they retreated back to their tree, just as Sakura woke. Hiding in the foliage they watched events unfold, trying desperately to hold in their chuckles.

Kakashi tried to throw himself away from the Uchiha, but had miscalculated the terrain and tripped on a stone. He could have sworn it wasn't there before, but either way, he fell backwards and knocked himself out on another conveniently placed rock. Kyuubi gave Naruto a look; he shrugged in response, an evil grin on his face. Sasuke had yet to right himself from his previous position and landed heavily, arms and legs tangled but bell in held tightly in his hand. Sakura had rounded the tree and seen Sasuke lying on the ground and had started screaming, running to him. Sasuke righted his limbs and stared at the bell in his hand, almost as if he couldn't believe he actually got it. Sakura saw the bell and started fawning over him, saying how great he is and how she wishes him luck for the future. He didn't notice the hopeful look in her eyes, and if he did he ignored it. He was one step closer to his goal. A groan brought their attention to their fallen sensei. Kakashi got up slowly, hand on his head, holding the headache that was pounding at his temples. Looking over to Sasuke he saw the bell he had in his hand. Looking at him in disbelief, then at his waist to confirm it, he sighed. He looked calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside his thoughts were a mess.

'No way was a gennin able to do get the bell!' – 'I was sure there were no rocks in this clearing when I mapped it out.' – 'I'm actually gonna have to teach this year,' – 'I never got to read the end of my book,' – 'he missed the point of the test,' – 'What am I going to do about the pink-haired one,' – 'The council will be happy, I wasn't planning on passing the Uchiha but he did, so I won't need to make an excuse on why I didn't pass him,' – 'I wonder if Naruto will ever forgive me?' – 'think this'll be the first time theres a team with only two kids, is it even allowed?'

Naruto could almost hear his thoughts as they flashed across his face. He sighed, looks like it'll be up to him to make Team 7 come together. Jumping down from the tree, he made as much noise as he could to announce his presence before stepping into the clearing.

"Hey guys, how did the test go?"

Sakura jumped and shrieked, Sasuke flinched but otherwise showed no surprise. Naruto frowned; he thought he made enough noise for a stampede. Kakashi looked shocked, not from surprising them – he heard him coming – but from Naruto still hanging around. Suddenly he knew where the stones had come from, now he just wanted to know _how _he had done it. There was no flare of chakra to suggest a jutsu, and his Sharingan – even hidden – would have alerted him to activated chakra in the area. There was no-one who could hide their chakra to a level where even the Sharingan couldn't see it, that's why he was so shocked Naruto was still around. The others must have distracted him more than he thought if he missed Naruto's chakra signature. Then all that was left was him physically putting them there, but Kakashi was one of the fastest in the village and could trace each water droplet falling down from waterfalls and rain in detail, even whilst he was moving. There was no _way _he was fast enough that he couldn't see it, even he was that quick, there would have been some sort of disturbance along the ground or wind. He would have created his own wind that he could've picked up on. Leaves would have rustled; the air would have the sound of splitting, like it did when a kunai was thrown. _How did he do it?_

Naruto ignored the looks of suspicion, awe and disbelief coming from Kakashi and spoke to Sasuke.

"I see you got the other bell, congrats. Guess we're team-mates now, huh?" Sasuke eyed him, trying to see if he was joking or being serious, sensing no deception he nodded his head in acknowledgment. Sakura was in the background, thinking her fantasy was about to be played out and was hyperventilating with excitement.

'_Maybe that Naruto kid will feel bad with me being left out and do the gentlemanly thing and give me his bell, then me and Sasuke could be on a team together and __alone__._' Her mind started working in overdrive thinking of all the new possibilities and chances she would have with her Sasuke. Naruto noticed her breathing hard, and the strong blush that tinged her cheeks and raised an eyebrow. That chick was worse than the Pervy-sage! At least he could hide when he was having an erotic fantasy; well he did when around Tsunade or suffer her fearsome wrath. He smirked at pleasant memories where he had failed... some with a little encouragement from yours truly buy hey, they were in constant competition. You could never let your guard down for an instant.

Kakashi cleared his throat and instantly four pairs of eyes were on him. Fang sat beside Naruto.

"Well, congratulations to Sasuke and Naruto. You are the first kids ever to get the bells, so as I said before, you are now officially gennin. Meet me tomorrow at the bridge at dawn. Sakura unfortunately you didn't get a bell or get the hidden message in the test so you fail. Report to the academy first thing tomorrow." Naruto and Fang grinned, Sasuke's face remained emotionless but you could sense the aura of smugness and satisfaction coming from him. Sakura was looking at the boys with hope and what seemed desperation in her eyes. Sasuke eyes her and snorted.

"What do you want?" he demanded harshly. She faltered for a moment, and then blushed.

"W-well I was hoping you would want to stay back with me, so we can pass together next time." She stammered. Sasuke looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why would I do that?" shocked that she would assume he would do anything that would deter his quest for power. She looked at him stunned. She opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted her. "First: I need power, I have a goal to accomplish. Second: You would be a burden to any team your assigned to. You depend on others to much and you have no special skills. You spend your time flirting and socializing when you should be spending it training. You're a _ninja _for Kami's sake! That means you're a soldier! So act like it!" turning abruptly on the spot he walked out of the clearing. Before he left however he turned. "It will be an honour to work with you; I hope we'll get along in the future." Naruto snorted. He's every bit of the nobleman his clan raised him to be! Instead of shutting Sakura down like he sounded like he was doing, in actual fact he was telling her what was wrong with her so she could improve and become a part of the team._ She doesn't seem to get it though. _He thought looking at her. She looked like she'd been punched in the stomach. Her eyes were wide and disbelieving, mouth slightly open and a very painful expression was on her face. Emitting a strangled sob she raced from the clearing, tears in her eyes. Naruto looked at the spot where she vanished before turning and leaving himself, with Fang at his heels.

Kakashi sighed. Oh what wonderful teamwork already...


	19. Chapter 18

Sorry for the incredibly long wait, but this one is really really good! i swear! ^^

* * *

It was dawn. The sky was still dark as the sun had yet to show itself. Naruto was used to getting up this early so he had decided to come to the meeting place early. Kyuubi was yawning by Naruto's feet, his fangs glistening in the morning night. Sitting cross legged by a post of the bridge, Naruto decided to meditate. He needed to organize his thoughts of the past couple of days, plus it helped him focus, so he would be ready for the day. Tsunade was always yelling at him to focus, especially when it came to medical ninjutsu. Thinking about his mother brought a sad smile to his face. He missed her. Breathing in deeply, he cleared his mind and began to meditate.

Mediating was always one of Naruto's favoured and most hated hobbies. With his unique chakra system, he did not merely think about certain subjects and feelings, but was able to walk among them. He could relive events from his life to remember certain aspects or details. It was like a photographic memory, but in video. In his mind, his thoughts and feeling were catalogued in books so he could find what he needed quickly and easily. When he read a page or chapter of a book he was instantly transported to the day and time of the event. This allowed him to also see details he previously missed. Of course this means he could recount and relive all of his earliest memories in full detail. Every beating and torture, every insult and jeer. That's why he had a different bookcase for them, so he didn't accidently go through them experience those horrors again. These bookcases were different then the other mahogany ones. They were made out of black wood and had many chains across them with a giant steel lock in the middle. On each of the four corners of all of them and in the centre of each were sealing wards locking the information deep within his psyche, in case he was ever caught and his mind read. He didn't need other people knowing his weaknesses.

The latest information was in a giant pile in the middle of the floor, yet to be organised. The room that he was in was a carbon copy of the living room in the Namikaze household, aside from the countless bookcases along the east wall and the many large doors that lined the south wall. A very high ceiling supported a glass chandelier, candles light to softly light the room. A roaring fireplace stood in the centre of the north wall, casting a warm glow across the room. It was a high as a tall man and wider than five. A comfy couch was opposite the fire, far enough to not be burned by the heat, but close enough to feel the warmth. The floor was lined with plush carpet covered in an even softer rug, coloured blood red. The walls were a dark blue that complemented the red beautifully. Next to the couch was a giant plush cushion that usually held a giant nine-tailed fox, but was currently out in one of the fields that lay beyond the various doors along the south wall. Kyuubi had taught him this when Naruto asked why he was in a sewer.

_Flashback_

"Hey Kyuu! How's it going?" asked Naruto, the five year old full of excitement. Kyuubi opened an eye to see the energetic blonde slide through the bars of his prison and leap on to one of his paws and sit down as if on an enormous, comfy bean-bag.

'**And why are you so cheery kit?" **the demon fox yawned, fighting back the last traces of sleep. Naruto rolled over to look the fox in the eye.

"Kaa-san has taken us to meet one of her friends. Her name is Shizune! She's really, really nice! But that's not the best part! We're at this place called a hot spring! They have these giant pools of water that never get cold, and then the comfiest clothes ever! And I can run around and play all day and we don't have to go anywhere for a while-"

Naruto kept going on about the hot spring, but Kyuubi had stopped listening for he had gone off in memories. Memories of days not being caged and being able to run through forests and swim in lakes and hunt wild animals, memories of freedom. Naruto seemed to notice the sad aura surrounding his friend and mentor and stopped talking. Looking around him, he knew why. The great demon lord, the Nine-tailed fox, was caged in a sewer.

"Hey, Kyuu," Naruto said trying to get the kitsune's attention. It took a couple of attempts, but he finally brought the fox out of his memories. "Why are we always in a sewer?" Kyuubi smiled sadly at the child, as much as a fox could anyway.

"**This is your mind, you decide consciously or subconsciously what it looks like. Remember when you first came here and there were cracks and bits of the wall crumbling down?" **Naruto nodded. **"That is because you were so very close to breaking down mentally. The torture and loneliness was winning and slowly but surely destroying you. It is a sewer because that's what your mind was reduced to. Now though, it is because you are used to seeing it this way. When you come to see me in your mind, you visualise this place, yes?" **Naruto nodded again. **"You do not need to do this; you have to simply think of me to see me. I can show you how to make your mind the landscape you want, so you literally have an inner sanctum." **

Naruto thought this over. It would be great if he could visit Kyuubi in a normal room instead of a sewer, but what could he do to help his friend? As he pondered this question, he agreed to Kyuubi's offer and they started the training.

After a couple of weeks under Kyuubi's guidance, Naruto had made his mind more homey. No longer was it the dank, dark sewer that it had been reduced to. No, now it was a warmly lit living room with high ceilings and a giant fireplace. Naruto did not know why he had decided to make it like this, it just seemed right. Though one of the walls was non-existent, instead it was Kyuubi's bars that made up the wall. The giant fox looked out of his prison at the boy with pride, not many shinobi were able to master their thoughts enough to make their minds into a sanctum and Naruto had done it in mere weeks! Truly, when he was older, he would be a force to be reckoned with. Naruto's voice broke through his musings,

"Hey, Kyuu, I'm gonna try something, 'K?" Kyuubi had no time to respond and the boy had started to concentrate very hard. The cage surrounding him warped and went out of focus. The bars started spinning and merging together to form a single, golden band. The gold band floated over to the giant fox and wrapped itself around his neck. When the two ends met a blinding flash lit up the room. When the flash died away, the kanji for seal was burned into the metal, and Kyuubi had a brand new collar. Kyuubi felt the metal around his neck, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Not too tight or too loose to get in his way. He experimentally stretched, standing for the first time in five long years. The place where his cage had been was now replaced by blank wall with a single door on it, and the ceiling had been adjusted to accommodate his height. The giant fox looked at the boy in wonder, he had never thought it was possible to change his cage's surroundings, he thought the seal way impenetrable, that only removing it would give him any form of freedom. He stared down at the child who although had every right to hate him and was his prison guard, had tried his hardest to make him as happy as he could be.

Kyuubi lowered his great head. It took Naruto a second to realise what he was doing. The great Demon Lord, Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox, greatest of all the Biiju, was bowing down to _him. _He was speechless.

"W-wait! What are you doing?" exclaimed Naruto. Kyuubi kept his head to the floor.

"**I have taken almost everything from you and have offered nothing in return. You have suffered greatly at the hands of other due to my presence, yet you have sought no vengeance against me. Instead give me freedom, as much as you can. Other would see me as just a giant power source or a mass murdering demon, yet you act like I am an actual being and treat me with kindness. You are my mortal vessel and yet you choose to help me rather than make me help you, so I have come to a decision." **Naruto cocked his head, waiting for the fox's response.

"**I, the Demon Lord Kyuubi, hereby swear an oath of fealty to you, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki, and promise that me and my heirs will serve you and your heirs for the rest of time, in mind, heart, body and soul. I am yours without reservation, this I swear" **Naruto was speechless... but not for long.

"No! You misunderstand! I didn't do this so you would become my servant! You have done heaps for me and I wanted to repay you somehow! You heal me all the time and your always there when I need to talk to someone! I don't want you to be a slave to me for the rest of your life!"

"**And that, kit, is why I swear myself to you. You are the first mortal, no, the first **_**being **_**whom I have deemed worthy of my power, and so, I will serve you willingly. Don't get me wrong though," **Kyuubi adopted an evil grin. **"I'm not going to be some little pet that meekly obeys you. I will teach you all you need to know about the shinobi arts, or 'ninja skills' as you so graciously named them. I will not only be your servant, but your teacher and comrade, and my training will make that old woman's seem like child's play"**

Naruto smiled. "So we're friends then." Kyuubi smiled too, as much as a fox could.

_End Flashback_

That was one of Naruto's most treasured memories. He smiled softly before a giant wave of pain broke through his mediative state. Opening his eyes he frowned, usually Kyuubi alerted him to any danger that was near him. Looking down he saw a wickedly sharp kunai sticking out of his arm. Gazing round for the fox, his heart froze with fear and blood boiled with rage.

A group of village youths had dragged a small, bloody, furry body further down the road and dumped it there. They were now standing around it in a circle arguing. They looked a few years older than Naruto, fifteen, maybe sixteen years old. One of them brought a stick sown upon the red lump and another wave of pain entered Naruto's head. The pain hadn't been his; it had been Kyuubi's. The red lump was his fox. The kitsune was covered in blood, staining his dark red fur even darker. His paw was twisted at an unnatural angle and there were several kunai stabbed into his body. Kyuubi whimpered pitifully. Unbridled rage ran throughout Naruto's body, his heart was replaced by an iceblock, both with hatred for these strangers and fear for his friend. Standing quickly, he raced over to the group, just in time to catch the last of their conversation.

"I caught him! So I get to kill it!" argued one

"But I'm the one who found it! I should be the one to end its miserable existence!" the one who had hit Kyuubi with the stick retorted.

"Both of you shut up! I'm injured it the most so it's only fair I get to kill it. If I didn't it could have escaped." Naruto made sure he remembered that face

"That's not fair! You've already hurt it enough for three of us! I came up with the plan! If I don't get to kill it I at least want a couple of tails to take home and show my dad. He'll be sooooo proud that I killed one of the demons!"

"Me too! Ok, here's how we're gonna do it; Hiroto, since you saw it, you can kill it, but since Yoshiro was the one who caught it, he can have its head. The rest of us will divide up the tails. Sound fair?"

"Fine, how many tails are there anyway? It's the most I've ever seen on one. Maybe we should take the body back and show someone, this one could be an Elder Fox. They're rare."

"Elder Fox?"

"Yea, I heard from my dad they're the first sons of the Kyuubi, they're kinda like the alpha's of a pack of dogs, except they all work together. Anyway, there are only nine of them, and each one of the Elder's has the power of a tail of the Kyuubi and when they all meet together devastation arises. You can tell it's an elder coz they have eight tails. That's how you tell how old one of the demons is. Each generation has one less tail than the one before it 'coz the power of the Kyuubi is lessened each time they mate with another fox or something. If we got one of the Elders, we'll be heroes!"

"But it's _tiny. _If it's an Elder, shouldn't it be huge?"

"True but it has lots of tails. Had anyone counted how many it has?"

"Yea, but I must be wrong, Oi! One of you guys count them!"

"You are how old, Hiroto? And you can't count? Ever thought of going back to the academy" another teased

"Shut up! If I'm right this is so not funny!"

"Why?"

Yamato didn't have a chance to answer as a whirlwind blew through their group, sending them all flying. Naruto stood over the fox, rage barely contained. Oh, how he wished he could tear each of their heads off and burn their eyes out! His fingers twitched towards his kunai as he contemplated the thought. A whimper from Kyuu broke through his hate filled haze, and his attention immediately shifted to the wounded fox. Looking over his wounded friend, his breath caught in his throat. Cuts littered his body, the paw that was twisted unnaturally was undoubtedly broken as well as a couple of his ribs. Kyuubi coughed weakly, blood spilling from his jaws. Scanning his body with chakra, he noticed that one of the broken ribs had pierced a lung and was failing rapidly.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" one of the boys yelled

Naruto stilled, holding himself back from turning and snapping the neck of the one who yelled at him. He heard the one called Yoshiro whisper,

"Hey, isn't that the kid who the fox was protecting?" Naruto's blood ran cold. This was his fault?

"Yea! Looks like he's friends with the monster, we should thank him." Hiroto grinned.

Naruto turned and faced them his eyes dead, the only sign of his rage was his fist curled tightly at his side, blood dripping from them from the nails that had bitten into his palms. "Thank me?" he questions, his voice flat with no emotion.

"Yeah, you see we tried to catch him before but he evaded us, when you were sleeping against the tree. We tried for ages, it was like the thing was playing with us but then when Yoshiro stumbled close to you, I dunno, it was like a switch was flipped or something, he went feral and bit him. We're not idiots, the thing likes you, so from then on we aimed most of our attacks at you, and waited for it to slip. It couldn't protect you and itself at the same time. Have to admit, it took a couple of kunai before it finally collapsed. So it could be an Elder. How would anything other than an Elder last so long against the five of us, whilst protecting a sleeping person and itself for such a long time?"

"Anyway, its coz the thing was distracted protecting you we were able to catch it" Hiroto finished smiling. Agony washed through Naruto. It was his fault Kyuubi was like this. If it wasn't for him he could have easily taken down these five bastards.

"But anyway, move aside. We still gotta divide it up."

"Hey! I thought we were taking it to show someone?"

"Nah, too much effort, let's just kill it now."

Naruto's agony was lost to the fresh wave of anger. An inhuman growl emerged from his lips, causing the youths to turn and look at him. They had time to blink before each of them was met with a fist. They all flew backwards and hit a wall of one of the buildings that surrounded the bridge. He was about to run after them and paint the building a lovely shade of red when someone grabbed onto his arm and stopped him. Naruto didn't even see who it was before he landed a fist in their face. He turned to go back to the assholes that had dared hurt his friend but was blocked by a solid chest. Looking up he saw the one eye that had haunted his nightmare for the past ten years, but even that mighty terror was lost to his rage and thirst for revenge.

"Get out of the way Kakashi." He growled. Kakashi flinched at the hate in the young boy's voice.

"Naruto, I-"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he roared and punched the jounin out of his way. He didn't see but he was pretty sure he landed near the bridge he had recently vacated, he didn't care either. Turning towards the boys, he stalked towards them. They were still on their backs and groggy from when Naruto had knocked them into next week. He reached the one closest to him and pulled out a kunai. As he brought it over his head, ready to bring it down and pierce the child below him, he heard a weak voice,

"**Kit...your...oath..." **Naruto paused, debating with himself quickly he turned and ran back towards the fox, choosing on trying to save him rather than killing the scum that now lay sprawling on the street. When he reached the fox, he wasn't the only one there.

"Come to your senses have you?" Sasuke said to him, a nasty bruise was forming on his cheek. He must have been the one who tried to hold him back. He was pretty sure he fractured his cheek bone, but the raven showed no indication of his pain or discomfort. He had Kyuubi in his arms and wrapped in what was probably a nice shirt but now a bloody piece of material. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing with him?" he demanded, kunai still held tightly in his hand.

"Calm down, baka. Unlike those other peons, I actually like Fang, so I was on my way to the vet, unless you can do that jutsu you used on the birds...?"

Naruto's face fell. "I can't use that jutsu on him. No jutsu will work on him, he needs old fashioned medical techniques, and I only know stuff that's for humans, not animals. He needs a vet, and a really good one. One of his lungs is punctured as well as numerous bones being broken."

"Then we should take him to the Inuzuka compound" a new voice broke in. Both boys turned to see Kakashi standing next to them. Ignoring the familiar terror in favour of worry for Kyuubi, he eyed the jounin, waiting for an elaboration. "Inuzuka is a ninja clan here that specializes in breeding canines. They should be more than adequate in healing your friend."

Naruto just nodded before turning towards Sasuke and holding out his arms. Not needing an explanation he handed the wounded fox over to the blonde. Naruto quickly checked his vitals before saying in a calm voice,

"Then let's hurry, he is getting weaker," The others didn't miss the undertone of worry, sadness and urgency that was laced in his voice. Kakashi nodded before saying,

'Follow me then," he jumped onto the roof of one of the near buildings, turning to make sure his new pupils were following him, he raced off towards the Inuzuka veterinary hospital. What a great start for their first day as a team.

...

As they left the scene, they didn't notice that the one called Hiroto was still conscious, but deep in thought. "I couldn't be right. I must be wrong. It couldn't have had nine tails..."

...

"We've told you already, GET OUT!" a nurse screamed at the group. Kyuubi was limp in Naruto's arms; his blood had started to seep through Sasuke's shirt and was dripping steadily onto the floor. The nurse who had yelled at them looked at it in disgust. "Great, now I'm not only going to have to wash the floor but bleach it too now that that _thing's_ blood has touched it," she said. Kakashi tried reasoning with her again.

"Please, you have to help him, he's really injured! He's only an animal!"

"Only an animal? Its spawn! It deserves to die! I can't believe you have the audacity to bring it in here! You should have left it where you found it, or better yet: killed it where it lay! Now GET OUT!" at this point Naruto was shaking with rage. How dare they turn them away? Kyuubi was injured, he needed help! And they would turn them away? Even say that he needed to die? These people know nothing! Even as they stood there he could feel Kyuubi's heart beat get weaker, his breaths coming in short gasps, blood dribbling out of his mouth. Blood was pooling into the lung that had been pierced by one of his broken ribs. It was his entire fault! If it wasn't for him, Kyuubi would be fine. In the back of his mind he could here Kyuubi reassuring him, but even his mind voice was filled with pain.

"**Kit...its ok... I'm not going... to die."**

"_I know! It- It's just! It's my fault your feeling all this pain, and if they don't heal you, your body will die!"_

"**I... am the... great... demon... lord... Kyuubi. Like... five cretins... could... kill **_**me." **_Despite his worry Naruto snorted with laughter.

"_Even though you're dying, you're still an arrogant ass" _he could feel Kyuubi smiling weakly in his mind. Frowning Naruto continued. "_Don't try and play this down Kyuu! If you die, you'll DIE! It may not be permanent, but it will be ages before you recover enough to be even able to talk to me through our connection!"_

"**We... knew the... risk... I wanted... to do... this. I... will... not be... gone for... long"**

"_Do you know how long is long? I don't know if I can cope without you Kyuu! We've always been together! You're my closest and best friend! What am I going to do without you! It may not seem like dying to you but it will really be like your dead to me! I won't be able to talk to you or see you in my dreams or in my mind! It will be like part of me is missing! _Kyuubi's heart warmed when he heard those words. Truly, the most important thing to them was each other.

"**When... we discovered... this jutsu... and... you offered... to do it... for me... it, was the happiest... day of ... my existence. You... a child... were willing... to risk **_**everything... **_**for me. You... gave me my... freedom, as... much as... was possible... without killing... me. I was... able to run... through the... forests... feel the... soil in my... claws... the excitement... of the... hunt... the wind through... my fur. You... have given... me more... than anything... any other host... would have... you are the first and only... human to hold... my respect and friendship. I... do not... know how... much longer... I can last... but for you... I will last... as... long... as... i... can..." **his voice faded in Naruto's mind.

"_Kyuu? Kyuubi? KYUUBI?"_ Naruto let out a strangled sob causing Kakashi and Sasuke to look at him. Sasuke's heart wrenched at the pure agony and distress on Naruto's face. Tears flowed freely down his scarred cheeks. He looked up at them, his blue eyes clouded in anguish. "I-I can't hear him anymore," he said softly, brokenly. Not questioning how he was able to communicate with the fox he turned to the nurse.

"I demand that you heal this fox!" His voice cold and ringing with authority. The nurse frowned at him.

"And why should I listen to you?" she sneered.

"I am Sasuke Uchiha, and I order you to heal this creature!" The nurse faltered. Uchiha? As in _the _Uchiha? Even if his clan was slaughtered, he was a very powerful boy, holding all of the Uchiha assets, influence and money. But rules were rules; those _things _were not animals and therefore were forbidden to be treated in this hospital.

"You could be the fire lord and that fox would still get thrown out along with the garbage it deserves to rot with." She scoffed at the boy. Needless to say Sasuke was outraged.

"I DEMAND YOU TREAT THIS FOX NOW!" he yelled. The nurse just refused again.

"Oi, what's with all the noise?" Everyone turned towards the new voice. Kiba stood in the door of the hospital taking in the scene before him, Akamaru on top of his head. The nurse grew flustered.

'Y-young master! Why are you here? Don't you have training?" Sasuke's eyebrow rose at the young master bit. But Kiba was ignoring them all and staring at Naruto's tear-streaked face and small bloody bundled in his arms. Smelling blood Akamaru jumped down from his head and ran over to the blonde boy and his friend. Recognizing the fox, he started barking, growling and whining all at once. Making up his mind he ran to the boy and grabbed the fox from him before turning and hurrying towards a pair of double doors that lead deeper into the hospital, Akamaru following faithfully at his heals. Looking over his shoulder he saw that Naruto was staring at the empty space in his arms that once held his most beloved pet.

"Oi! Follow me if you want your friend healed!" before disappearing through the doors. Naruto's head snapped up just as he saw Kyuubi disappear from view by the door. Without another thought he was up and pelting after the dog-boy who had whisked away his fox, Sasuke and Kakashi not far behind him, leaving the nurse in the middle of the waiting room, wondering what had just happened.

...

Kiba took them to a white room with pristine steel operating table in the centre of it. Many different doctoring instruments surrounded it; most Naruto recognised from his time with Tsunade, others were completely foreign to him, probably meant for use on animals only. Not wasting any time, the brunette set Kyuubi down on the table an arranged him so he could be examined easily. Holding his hands over the fox, they were enveloped in a soft green light. After a while Kiba frowned and let loose a long string of curses. Whirling round he turned to Naruto, but before he had a chance to speak, Naruto beat him to it.

"Jutsu don't work on him, that's why we came here otherwise I would have healed him myself. He needs operating on, without chakra. He has a pierced left lung, severe blood loss, four broken ribs, one of them is piercing the lung, while three are cracked, his right front paw is broken as well as a dislocated shoulder. They're the major injuries; the lesser ones are all the cuts and bruises you see. The deepest on is the one on his shoulder; it has cut through a lot of muscles but is nowhere near any organs or vital areas. Please, can you help him?" he near begged of the boy. As Naruto had listed the fox's injuries, he had frowned deeper and deeper.

"What the fuck happened to him?" he almost demanded. At once Naruto's demeanour changed. His anguish filled blue eyes became icy cold and his jaw was rigid with rage.

"Leaf villagers happened" he hissed, venom dripping from every word. Kiba looked confused before noticing and remembering the many tails the fox has. Understanding sparked in his eyes.

"Ah, he's one of _those _foxes," Naruto whirled to face him, every inch of his body promising a very painful death if he dared to insult his fox. Kiba held up his hands, trying to show he meant no disrespect. "Hey dude, I don't have a problem with them. All animals are equal to me; and I understand what you're going through. If anything like this happened to Akamaru, geez I dunno, I'd be a massive wreck. Almost feel sorry for those guys though, I've seen what you can do and that was when you weren't as pissed as you are now." A bark interrupted the boys. Turning they saw Akamaru standing in the doorway, a woman behind him. She was about a head taller than Kiba but had the same fang marking on her cheeks. A relative? Naruto asked himself.

"Oi, bout time you got here sis," take that as a yes, "I need some help with this one." Ignoring everyone except her new patient the woman started to examine him before Kiba interrupted. "No use, for some reason it's immune to jutsu. But he is seriously injured we need to operate, stat!" Taking all of this into stride, Kiba's sister whirled around the room, washing her hands, getting a white coat on and setting lights so they were ready to operate.

"What are his injuries? Most severe to least" she demanded. Kiba listed them all, not missing a single one, and he ran around the room, preparing to assist his sister. When they were about to start the woman turned to the three still in the room watching.

"All of you! Out! Now!" Kakashi and Sasuke turned to leave but Naruto didn't move, a defiant spark glittering in his eyes.

"No." She turned and looked at the stubborn blonde haired boy.

"Out"

"No,"

"Leave, now."

"No."

"I said to get out of the operating room, NOW!"

"I am not leaving him."He said staring the woman right in the eye. She held his gaze for a few seconds searching for something.

"Yours?"

"Yes."

"Fine, you people can stay but you get in my way, you're out. And not through the door either. You'll find yourself discovering what wall tastes like." And with that she turned and started working on Kyuubi, with the new Team 7 looking on.

The minutes slowly ticked by.

They then turned into hours.

Sasuke had taken to leaning against the wall his eyes closed. Kakashi was out in the waiting hall, where there were chairs and he didn't receive piercing dagger glare from the doctor for reading Make-Out Paradise in a hospital. Naruto hadn't moved at all since the surgery had started. The only part of his body that showed he was still alive was his eyes following the doctors every move but most of the time he was staring at the part of Kyuubi's head he could see and wasn't covered by a thin white sheet, his head. But this meant he could see his eyes, that hadn't had the energy left to close before the fox fell unconscious, so Naruto was forced to stare into his blank eyes, as if the fox had already died. Guilt, anger, hatred, and an endless well of despair were all warring through him as he watched the vet cut Kyuubi open to set his ribs and patch up the hole in his lung.

It was during this part of the procedure that Kyuubi had stopped breathing.

(_A/N: wouldn't you all hate me if I left it here? ^^ think of the cliff hanger! buuuut lucky thing I'm nice =P)_

Panic gripped Naruto as the woman started yelling stuff at Kiba and Kiba was yelling back. But none of that mattered, Kyuubi had stopped breathing. The flat line was making an endless noise that was drilling itself into Naruto's heart and slowly killing it. Kiba rushed to the side of the room and brought out a machine to jump start Kyuubi's heart, animal size. He charged it and then pushed the metal onto Kyuubi's body. As the electric shock raced throughout the kitsune's body, it lifted off the table before falling back down limply. Naruto just stared blankly as this was repeated over and over. Each time his body fell limply to the cold table with a sickening thud. He couldn't die, he said he wouldn't. He was meant to be with him forever, he couldn't leave. He promised. No. He can't be gone. No. He can't go. No. He couldn't leave him. No. No. No. No. No. No.

"Naruto," a voice said sadly. He didn't realise he was saying it out loud. Sasuke's eyes held sympathy and pity for him. No. They aren't meant to look like that. His face is meant to look cold and smug, his eyes full of arrogance as he states that he was over reacting, and that Kyuubi was ok. The sound of a door opening made Naruto look at Kakashi entering the room. His eye was the same as Sasuke's. No. No. No.

"NOOO!" he screamed Kakashi and Sasuke grabbed at him as he tried to run to the table. Kiba and his sister looked up to see the utter despair and agony of the boy, saw as each second past, a little of him died. They were helpless; there was nothing more they could do. Akamaru whined as Kiba hung his head in defeat.

"NO! He can't die! He promised to stay with me! He was always there! He can't go!" Sasuke was shocked at the state of the blonde. He was usually so composed if sometimes goofy. Why this extreme reaction over a fox. Even though he admitted he liked the animal and was incredibly saddened by its passing, Naruto acted as if it was a father or brother that had died.

Naruto's mind was in turmoil. The room in which he imagined his mind had begun to shake and the walls were crumbling. Naruto was screaming inside, the loss was overwhelming him. There had to be something he could do! He couldn't survive without Kyuubi! Then it hit him. He could! It might leave him bed ridden for a week and he might reveal who he was, but he had to!

As Kiba and his sister stepped away from the body of the fox, Kakashi felt an overwhelming sense of pity for the boy. The fox had no doubt been his only friend throughout his life and now it was dead. He felt the blonde stop struggling in his hands and he loosened his hold on the blonde. The second he did the boy dashed to the table that held his friend. Grabbing five kunai he stabbed them around the table forming a pentagram. He then turned and threw more kunai that stuck into each of the corners of the room, but these ones had seals for containment attached to them. All the occupants of the room stared in wonder as he stepped out of the circle and made a series of hand signs. When they looked in his eyes all they saw was desperation and determination. Instead of trying to stop him, they allowed him to do whatever he felt he must before accepting that his friend was gone. When Naruto finished his hand signs, they all felt the sudden increase in chakra. It was at least Sannin level. Staring at the boy in wonder they watched as he attempted to revive the fox.

"Summoning Jutsu! Five Fox Guardians!" Naruto screamed releasing his built up chakra into the five kunai that made the pentagram. As one they all pulsed, reverberating throughout the small operating room. As they pulsed each of the kunai began to change. On Naruto's right, the kunai had stated to melt, turning into a large puddle of water before a figure rose from within. As the body of the creature firmed, ice claws could be seen, protruding from legs made of water. Its tails whipped around, constantly in motion and impossible to count how many, as they split and then splashed back together continuously, never staying the same amount for more than a few seconds. When its eyes opened, they were icy, literally. Two glowing eyes of ice shone out of the pointed face. The creature's watery jaws opened slightly revealing deadly sharp icicles for teeth. When the figure solidified, a fox made entirely out of water and ice had materialized. The creature sat patiently on its marker and the fox of Water and Ice waited for its brothers to form.

To the left, the kunai had ignited and burned, reducing the once sharp kunai to ashes. From the flames a figure started to emerge. A body darker than night stepped from the flames. Its claws were sharper than any weapon and even as they rested against the ground gently, they still left lines from where the slightest amount of pressure pushed them against the ground. Flames danced along the lithe body of the fox, its tail an inferno of frolicking flames. When this fox opened its eyes, they were molten, liquid fire. When it opened its jaws, the saliva dripped from them and fell to the floor, burning straight through the concrete ground. The fox of Fire and Magma sat proudly and waited for its command.

The kunai next in line had been surrounded by a small tornado that grew larger with every second. The winds whipped and thrashed until a hazy form could be distinguished. There was no physical form to this fox. Its tail were invisible as were it claws, the only parts that was the torso, as the air that was meant to be in the area occupied by the fox where spun into a frenzy, outlining its form. When its eyes opened, mini cyclones spun in the centre of each. The fox of Wind and Air had arrived.

Next, the kunai had been shrouded in a cloak of electricity, crackling constantly. When the fox emerged, it was almost as indistinguishable as the one before, made entirely of light, its fur was spiky and stood on end constantly from the electricity that made up its being. When is eyes opened, they were endless black depths, but when you stared into them, you could hear the boom of thunder. Its tail was flickering constantly and even as the fox of Lighting and Sound sat down, it seemed like it was constantly in motion.

The remaining kunai had sunk into the ground, absorbed by the concrete that was a part of the final fox. The last of the five rose from the ground itself. It was composed of many things, any and all that was created in the earth. It body was made of hardened earth and each of its legs were wrapped in vines that had started to bloom flowers. This one had many tails, each made of a different substance. There was sand, stone, metal and wood to name a few. Its claws were made of gold; teeth looked like they were made with diamonds and its eyes shone bright red with rubies. The fox of Earth and Wood completed the circle.

The onlookers stared in wonder at the mythical beasts that had been summoned before them. Each one magnificent and powerful, each one now looking towards Naruto and... _Bowing?_

"**Greetings Naruto-sama." **They all said in unison, heads dipped low to the ground. Naruto-_sama? _ Naruto had these powerful creatures in his service? Even one was a difficult to acquire, they were the pure embodiment of the five elements and the sub-elements that very few ever learn. It was these spirits working together with the Sage of Six paths that Justus were even created! He was the master of the spirits that had given all ninjas their jutsu?

Naruto fell to his knees when the Guardians greeted him. Looking up and resting his gaze on Kyuubi he asked, "Please, he was your master too. Help me." His voice broken. Looking towards the table to where the Lord of the Biju now lay, each of the foxes growled. Naruto held out one of his hands and waited. The foxes started to pulse, each of them brimming with power.

"**Command us."** They stated together. Naruto looked over his shoulder at the small group of people watching. Kakashi looked astounded, his mask slipping down to the bridge of his nose his mouth was open so much. Sasuke's usual blank face was filled with awe as well as disbelief. Kiba was busy trying to pick his eyes off the ground while his sister had sunk down to the floor, legs unable to hold her up anymore.

"I need you to swear you will never repeat what is about to happen in this room to any other living soul again. That includes each other." He commanded. Kakashi muttered a weak yes, while Sasuke just nodded. Kiba looked confused but agreed anyway; his sister however, looked calculating, even on the floor.

"**Command us."**

"You're going to attempt to bring him back." It was a statement not a question.

"Yes."Naruto deadpanned.

"Are you sure it is going to work?"

"No."

"But you're going to try anyway."

"Yes."

"Then I will have no arguments against it. Any and all animals deserve a second chance." She stated firmly. Naruto smiled sadly at this.

"I wonder if you'll think the same after what you witness." He thought out loud. She looked at him in confusion, but he had already turned back to the table.

"**Command us." **Naruto took a deep breath before he stated in a deep voice that seemed to belong to a much older Naruto,

"_I, Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki Senju, Son of Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage to the Hidden Leaf Village, Son of Kushina Uzumaki, Princess of the Hidden Whirlpool Village, Adopted son of Tsunade Senju, Granddaughter of the First Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Hiroshima Senju, and member of the legendary Sannin; Hereby command you before me, Five Guardian Foxes, fathers of jutsu, Lords of the Underworld, Subordinates of the King of the Biju; As the Mortal Vessel of the Nine-tailed Demon Fox Kyuubi, give me your power so I may revive your lord and my servant!"_

At the end of his command each of the foxes was now nimbuses of power. A ball of water, fire, wind, lightning and earth circled over his head before combining together to form a ball of pure light. Reaching up with his still out stretched hand he took hold of the light at brought it over the body of his friend.

"_As your master and vessel, I summon you back to this body!" _ As the last syllable left his mouth he slammed the ball of light straight into the fox's chest. A sound like crashing thunder, roaring fire, screaming wind, rumbling earth and pounding water filled the room. Light blinded them all. All of the occupants except Naruto held their hands over their ears trying to lessen the deafening noise and eyes squeezed shut to try and lessen the burn of the light, but to no avail. It was like each of the elements had decided to pound their way out from the inside of their skulls and the light had burned itself to the inside of their eyelids. When the noise receded and the light dimmed to its usual level did they dare to open their eyes and remove their hands.

Naruto was still on his knees, slumped against the table that held the fox. Kiba's sister rushed over to check on the blonde, but he waved her away.

"Did it work?" he croaked his voice returned to normal but rough with over use. She looked over to the table and couldn't contain her gasp of shock. The fox's body looked as if nothing had ever touched it. The fur was glossy and smooth, not a speck of blood to be seen. Running her hands along its body she felt its bones. All were in place and healed. She removed her hands and stared at the boy in wonder and awe. His eyes held nothing but desperation over the fox's condition. She was about to tell him that the body had healed but the foxes spirit was gone, when said fox opened its eyes and slowly got up from the table. She couldn't take it anymore. She fainted.

Kiba hurried to his sister's side, making sure she was ok. He turned to look at the blonde, but Naruto only had eyes for the fox. He watched as the once desperate and agony tortured eyes, filled with relief and uncontrolled happiness. His heart rose when he saw the love the boy held for the animal, but it almost stopped dead by the one word the boy said with the utmost joy before collapsing.

Kakashi was shocked. The boy knew about everything. EVERYTHING! Who his father was, who his _mother _was! Even what was inside him! The reason for all of the bad things that had happened during his childhood, he knew! He could go on a rampage at any minute! He could actually release the fox whole heartedly! But when the blonde uttered that one word dripping with relief before he couldn't stay conscious any longer, filled Kakashi with uncontrollable hate and anger, but also made him want to run and hide in his bed.

Sasuke stared in shock as the fox rose from the table and turned towards the blonde. Everything that had happened in the past few minutes had completely overloaded his brain, was everything the blonde said true? No wonder he kept everything about himself a secret. That's why he was in the nobles section of the village, his father's house! No wonder he made sure he got their sworn promise not to utter a word about this to anyone! It would make him a target, from enemies as well as power hungry fools. Fools like himself. If he could get the blonde to show him _some _techniques, he could take his brother down no problem, but what the blonde said in the happiest tone he had ever heard of, made his brain shut down completely as he watched the boy pitch forward in the embrace of the unconscious.

"Kyuubi!"

* * *

I've been wanting to use the five guardians for a while now and i was so happy when i got a chance to use them ^^ please tell me what you think!


	20. Chapter 19

I know, I know. It has been FOREVER! Wassup my peeps? Hows it hangin' and all that jazz. Hopefully now that im less distracted I'll be able to focus more on my story. I got a little lost with where I wanted to take it and how I was going to do it but I think ive gotten it all figured out now... hopefully. Well lets not waste more time, im sure you all wanna know what happens now ^^

* * *

Silence reigned supreme in the cold operating room. Naruto lay unconscious, slumped over the operating table, still reaching out for the fox that now stood over him, as if he could still get to him even when passed out. The animal he had tried so hard to revive stood over him, each of its tails wrapping themselves around the blonde boy, protecting him from the danger that was sure to come.

Kyuubi looked down at his master with a sad smile, as much as a fox could smile. The brat hadn't thought through his actions enough. The technique he had used wasn't a jutsu; otherwise it wouldn't have worked on him. No, he had used the very elements themselves, the Guardians, without any chakra to bring him back from wherever he was and heal his mortal body. He had used his pure life force to direct the Guardians to do his bidding... and Kyuubi didn't know what the repercussions of that one decision would be.

To command even one of the Guardians was beyond most shinobi capabilities, that's why chakra is used to aid them in controlling a sliver of the Guardian's power. The Guardians were Kyuubi's servants, a testament to his prowess – the command of all the elements. Naruto, being Kyuubi's master, had access to the Guardians, but he still needed Kyuubi there to bring out their full power. But then he ever only had needed to summon one at any time and each of these times had left him incredibly weak, with need of rest for almost a full week before he was recovered enough to even use his chakra again. But this time... he had summoned all _five _of the guardians... and channelled their full power _without_ Kyuubi. The combination of these two things left Kyuubi frantic over the boy's health. Summoning all five Guardians without him was bad, but he had then used his own life force to direct them... meaning he currently had no chakra and was quite possibly slipping deeper and deeper into a coma.

Even as Kyuubi fretted over the blonde's condition, he didn't fail to notice the multiple kunai heading straight for his head. Standing in front of the boy, he released a wave of chakra that repelled the weapons. He snarled menacingly at the masked man who threw them. Kakashi was shaking, with fear or rage he didn't know which, all he knew was he wanted that demon _gone. _Right before him stood the creature that had taken the last of his closest friends and teachers. Why was Naruto so desperate to help the thing? If he knew everything then he should hate the creature as much as he did and then some. His hand twitched towards his kunai holster, preparing to throw another barrage of weapons at the monster, but Kyuubi had other things planned.

Summoning his chakra, he let it out in a wave, pushing all the occupants, save Naruto and himself, out of the room. Kakashi and Sasuke slammed into the wall outside, whilst Kiba and his sister landed hard on the floor, Kiba's sister landing on him so she wasn't as damaged as the others. The second their bodies had cleared the doorway, the kunai that had been placed in the corners of the room by Naruto before the revival glowed and the doors slammed shut.

Sasuke got up slowly, nursing his ribs that had slammed against the wall. He looked at his sensei and saw him getting up as well; Kiba was struggling with his sister still unconscious on top of him. Looking towards the door he tried to sense the Nine-Tail's chakra or that of his fellow team member, but there was only a void. It was like the entire room wasn't there. He could sense all the way around the room and even the doors that led into it, but beyond that there was nothing, like a giant hole was left in the building. _Must be those kunai. Some sort of suppressing or containment jutsu? _He thought briefly. _It would make sense; Naruto didn't want anyone to detect the massive amounts of chakra they just released and interrupt him healing the fox. _His thoughts however were interrupted by the nurse from the reception bustling up to them dragging behind her the elders and Hokage.

"The _nerve _of the brat! I specifically said we would not treat the foul beast but he waltzed right on in here anyway and – Oh my Kami! Young master! Young mistress! What happened?" she had just spotted Kiba and his sister slumped unceremoniously on the floor. Sasuke eyed her and the elders distastefully. He should probably inform them that the fox that they so wanted to let die was the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox, but he really couldn't find any reason for him to do so. They blonde hadn't harmed anyone, in fact it looked like he had some mission and circumstances required him to suffer the inconvenience of being in the leaf village, maybe even protect it when the time came. In any case, informing them would just mean that the blonde's time would be taken up by answering useless questions instead of being put to the more important task of showing Sasuke some of his strongest jutsu. Obviously these people needed to get their priorities in order. Even if he had made the decision about keeping quiet about Kyuubi, and for some reason so did Kiba, Kakashi had different ideas about what was important.

"Hokage! Elders! Quick, we must assemble all available Anbu and jounin, hell, even chuunin! Every ninja in the village! We must dispose of the demon!" he sounded frantic and desperate. Sarutobi and the elders looked taken aback by his outburst, but the nurse just looked smug.

'I told you the thing needed to be left to die! Just like all the others! I don't have the foggiest why you would have wanted to help it in the first place!"

"Kakashi are you feeling well? It will be a simple matter to dispose of the fox; we don't need the entire village to eliminate it." The Third said calmly, trying to placate the raving jounin.

"No! You don't get it! The fox isn't just a fox! It's the-" His voice was suddenly cut off as his throat closed up, refusing to allow anymore air past his lips and name the animal for what it really was. Struggling to breathe, Kakashi face started to turn purple, his vision turned fuzzy as black spots appeared randomly in his sight. He could vaguely hear the people around him yelling his name, asking what was wrong... but he could not answer. It was like someone had stuffed cotton into his ears. His lungs were on fire and his limbs tingled from lack of oxygen. Over the muffled voices and burning in his chest, he heard Naruto's voice floating eerily in his mind.

"_I need you to swear you will never repeat what is about to happen in this room to any other living soul again. That includes each other." _He had said yes. Weak as it was he had sworn, and somehow, Naruto had made that into some form of contract jutsu that physically restrained him from telling anyone what had happened in that room, even after the fox had been revived. Outrage washed over Kakashi at this realisation. The brat had known what they would discover. It wasn't his personal information that he was worried about; it was the identity of his pet. Realising this he stopped trying to say the name Kyuubi. Instantly the pressure on his throat dispersed and he was able to suck in air, cooling the burning in his lungs and getting feeling back into his appendages. The Hokage and elders looked at him strangely, questioning his mental health, as he crouched on the floor, breathing in air in great gasps. Fuming, he stood up and with as much dignity as he could muster, bowed before the Hokage and reported as much of the situation as he could, without being choked and suffocated. Sasuke and Kiba looked on in amusement, both noting the fact he couldn't mention anything about the Kyuubi.

"Lord Hokage, Honourable elders, upon my reaching Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto, I was unable to inform them of your decision as a handful of Konoha youths had attacked ," he cleared his throat, making sure it still worked, "the _fox _that follows the blonde boy around. Naruto had attacked the youths in attempt to free his _pet _and exact revenge against the boys. Sasuke and I were able to stop him from going too far by drawing attention to the fatal wounds that dominated the body of the _animal. _Leaving the youths unconscious but alive, we made our way here, the boys in hopes that someone would be able to heal the _fox _because... because...," he struggled a little here, for he knew the exact reason now why jutsu did not work on the thing, "because for some strange and _unknown _reason, no jutsu or any chakra have effect on it at all. Upon entry into the Inuzuka animal hospital we were refused treatment by the nurse that brought you here. After a few minutes young Kiba here came through and decided to aid us. We came to the operating room behind us where the _fox _was treated and then cured. The effects however were too strenuous on Naruto and he is currently unconscious with the fox guarding over him."

The council looked perplexed for a moment, digesting Kakashi's tale. It certainly tied in with some things that had come to their attention scant minuted ago. A boy by the name of Hiroto came running into the Hokage tower, screaming about a fox with nine tails and its blonde protector, attacking him and his friends. He thought it had been an Elder and had eight tails but he had counted them again and again and he still could count nine tails. The fact the fox was with the blonde boy, the demon brat, fuelled their suspicions about the animal. And now, here in front of them, was one of their most respected ninja, who had been in a frenzy to tell them something, but some force had forbidden him to utter what he wanted them to know.

The council may be power-hungry bastards... but they weren't idiots. They hadn't forgotten the encounter with the brat in the Hokage's office a few days ago. He had been able to send the fox away in a glow of light. Somehow the boy had been able to summon the beast that resides inside his stomach and had full control over it. If the boy had control of the demon, he could be more powerful than they thought, and a much bigger threat. He had to be eliminated or bound in some way so that his powers could be used to aid the village... especially against their enemies. The fox had to be theirs... or be destroyed.

Homura turned to Kakashi, his gaze calculating. "We understand everything," was all that was stated before the council members turned and walked away. Almost instantly the room was surrounded by Anbu warriors. Kakashi grinned. Even if he couldn't tell them what had happened, they had somehow deduced it for themselves. The fox would get what was coming to it.

Sasuke and Kiba were off to the side, forgotten. They observed the Anbu as they each tried different techniques to open the doors that led to their prey. As each attack met the closed doors, it glowed briefly before completely dispelling whatever was thrown at it. Nothing opened the doors or left so much as a scratch on the gleaming metal surfaces. Water attacks turned to puddles, fires burned into nothing, rocks crumbled to dust, wind turned into a harmless breeze and lightning simply fizzled out before even coming into contact with the barrier. Sasuke almost chuckled when one of the stoic ninja lost their composure and ran blindly at the doors, yelling wildly, only to be thrown back against the opposite wall and rendered unconscious. Kiba smiled but was his mind was on the blonde boy. Even though the fox had been revealed as the Kyuubi, he couldn't hate or detest the guy. Something in his blood compelled him to like and protect him. Maybe it's because Kyuubi was now Akamaru's Alpha after he subdued the puppy in the class? Maybe its cause Naruto saved his life when Kenji tried to silence him, and since that moment he had sworn to serve this boy. Or maybe it was the look in those bright blue eyes when he thought the fox was gone from his life, and then again when the fox was well; the relief was almost tangible. It didn't matter; he would be loyal to this boy for the rest of his life, no matter what demon was inside of him. He shrugged mentally, he was an Inuzuka, and they had a thing with loyalty.

As soon as he came to this conclusion the door to the operating room opened briefly. Instantly the Anbu went on guard, warily watching out for any sign of attack. Without hesitation, Akamaru, who had been silent up until this point, ran into the room. The door glowed but allowed the animal to enter. A few exclamations of surprise were heard from the watching spectators as the dog ran into the room. A few tried to follow, only to be thrown back and refused entry. After a while a low growl was heard. To those who weren't familiar with the different pitched and meanings behind canine growls, it sounded menacing and blood thirsty. To Kiba it sounded impatient. He frowned in confusion as Akamaru came trotting out of the room and up to him. He barked once then turned around and headed back into the room. Looking back and seeing his master was not following him he barked again. Taking the hint, Kiba made his way forward. Hesitating slightly before the gap, he stepped through the doors. Sasuke watched, eyes slightly narrowed, as the door slid shut silently, leaving many fuming Anbu locked on the outside.

...

Kiba stared in awe at the operating room. It had changed drastically in the mere minutes that they had been thrown clear of the room. The five Guardians had been summoned again, and had all their power returned to them in Kyuubi's presence. The operating table in the centre of the room held the blonde boy, still unconscious, and was surrounded by vines, trees and blossoming flowers. Water swirled around the vines and growth, encircling the small grotto. Swirling rapidly around in a vicious gust, fire and lightning combined. Each time Kiba heard the thump or boom of angry Anbu ninja attacking the doors, the lightning crackled angrily and the fiery inferno blazed hotter than before, wind swirling and pushing the other elements on. Kiba stared in awe as the elements reigned supreme, protecting their master's ward.

The Nine-Tailed fox stood over the boy, tails encircling him, as the Guardians of Earth and Water leaped and pranced around his still form. He supposed this made sense. Earth created life and Water sustained it so it was obvious why these two spirits were the ones looking over the blonde. Unsure of what he was meant to do, Kiba cleared his throat nervously. Instantly all attention in the room was on him. The five spirits foxes materialized in their fox forms and stood between him and Naruto. Kyuubi lifted his gaze form the unconscious boy and levelled it at the brunette standing at the door. He pulled his lips back menacingly, revealing a glistening tooth, in a silent snarl. Kiba held his hands up in defence.

"Whoa, I'm not here to cause trouble," he said desperately trying to show that he meant no harm. Thankfully for him, he had Akamaru. The white canine rushed over to Kyuubi and lay on his back baring his neck, a sign of submission in the canine world. Kyuubi studied the passive dog before turning his gaze back onto Kiba. Looking the boy over he seemed to sigh in exasperation. Nipping the dog on the neck he accepted his pledge and allowed the puppy to go back to his master. Akamaru trotted back to Kiba and grabbed a bunch of his pant leg into his mouth and started to drag him over to the boy. The Guardians eyed suspiciously as he walked past them to reach their charge. Thunder crackled warningly and the room seemed to get a little bit hotter as he walked under their glares.

As Kiba neared the table, his eyes zeroed in on the unconscious boy in front of him. He looked as if he were sleeping, except his breathing was ragged and shallow and his skin had lost its natural tan and was now a pasty pale that rivalled the Uchiha's complexion. But the thing that struck Kiba most was how frail and innocent he looked. When his eyes were closed he lost that haunted and tortured expression he usually carried around, even with all the smiles and goofiness that he tried to cover it up with. Even Kiba, who was naturally brash and abrasive, noticed it from the few encounters they had in their classroom.

A low growl brought his attention back to the fox that was leaning over the blonde protectively. Kiba noticed he was bigger than the last time he saw him, now he looked a little bigger than some of the largest dogs he'd ever seen. He shrugged mentally, must be some demon thing. He watched as one of the fox's tails moved from it place around the boy and was placed on the centre of his forehead. A soft red glow emanated from the furry appendage that connected the two. Immediately Kiba felt a warm, comforting feeling envelop his mind, completely opposite to the menacing growl that accompanied it.

"**You are one of the humans who tried to save me." **It was more of a statement than a question. Kiba nodded dumbly, too stunned to speak.

"**Useless attempt, but you have my thanks nonetheless. You owe this boy a Life-Debt, yes." **Kiba frowned, unfamiliar with this term. Kyuubi rolled his eyes; humans these days were obviously unfamiliar with the basics of demon society.

"**He saved your life, and in return, you give your life to him." **Kyuubi explained, using the simplest terms he could think of. Of course a Life-Debt was much more than that, but the basic points were all the human child needed to know for now. Understanding quickly because he was thinking the exact same thought before he entered the room, Kiba nodded again. Approving of the determination and loyalty shining in the human boy's eyes, Kyuubi made his decision.

"**You are to stay here, by Naruto's side until I return with aid. He has over-exerted himself almost fatally and I do not trust these Leaf cretins to tend to him properly. The Guardians shall stay in the village and attend to various loose ends as well as tending to your human needs. There will always be at least one of the Guardians with you in case you need to draw on their power. I shall return in roughly a seven days of your understanding of time."**

An angry gust of wind alerted Kiba to the fact the Guardians were not pleased with this turn of events. Kyuubi released a foreboding growl that silenced their protests, though if the sharp crackles of lightning were anything to go by, Kiba assumed they were muttering about it amongst themselves. Returning his attention to Kiba, Kyuubi pinned him to the wall with his gaze.

"**You are not to leave this room. You are not to allow any harm to come to Naruto. If you fail, you will wish for the sweet release of death as despair and agony fills your soul for what I will do to you if anything happens to him." **His growling voice had turned into nothing but a soft caress of murderous intent and held the promise of years of pain. Removing his tail from Kiba's forehead, Kyuubi licked Naruto on the cheek before disappearing in a ball of fire. Kiba blinked a couple of times before looking around warily. The Guardians seemed to eye him in disdain or disgust, perhaps a mixture of both, before turning to each other and having some sort of debate. The elements that still surrounded Naruto started going slightly haywire as each fox spoke, rather yipped and growled, their point. Kiba had to cover his head and couch into the smallest form he could manage as he felt blistering winds scorching him at the same time electrified rains froze him. When the fiery frozen storm that was contained within the operating started to die down did Kiba dare to open his eyes and glance at the spirit foxes. It appeared the guardian of Earth and Wood had lost and the others were doing some sort of victory lap around its dejected form. A blinding flash of light filled the room and when it faded only the earthen spirit was left.

* * *

Across town in the market part of the village, a little shop was closing for the day. The owners of the shop had decided to shut early in favour of looking after their son who was attacked earlier in the day. Their son's name was Yoshiro. He was a fine boy who always did what he was told and was a firm believer in the teachings of the village; in particular his hatred towards the demons that plagued their humble little town was something the owners of the little shop were proud of. They could show him off to their friends and know he would be admired for his firm beliefs that the devils needed to be eradicated. And they could also be certain that with this outlook he was almost guaranteed a prominent position within the Anbu once he passed the entrance exam. Yes, it was a small price to pay, closing their little store for the afternoon to look after their son who was their pride and joy.

As they mounted the flight of stairs in the back of the shop that lead to their little apartment, the wife of the couple thought she forgot something. Thinking back to the morning she went over her morning routine. She rose early to make breakfast for her husband and son. Whilst they were eating she tidied their rooms. When they finished she did the dishes and retreated to her and her husband's room to get ready for the day. She was in the middle of blow-drying her hair after her shower when she said good-bye to her son and then left to get ready – oh! That's right. She left the hair-dryer on the bench in the bathroom. Shaking her head for her silliness she proceed to the bathroom to put it away properly. It was a good thing she turned it off at the power point because she was sure Yoshiro was taking a bath to soothe his wounds. She didn't want anything to happen to her little angel.

As she opened the door, the sight that met her eyes would be burned into her retinas for the rest of her days. Yoshiro's eyes were open and stared at nothing, irises now dull as the life had been drained from them. His arm was at an odd angle, as if trying to fight something off, while his legs were bent, as if trying to get out of the bath. The water came up to his chest and crackled gleefully. The hairdryer that had been sitting innocently on the bench was now drowned in the bath and rested on Yoshiro's stomach. The bathtub full of calm, warm water had become a pool of death as sparks visibly danced atop the surface of the water. The wife screamed, blood-curling and shrill, that made her husband run to her side. When he saw the mass of electrified water he stopped dead in his tracks. He stared in shock at the sight of their only son, lying in the deadly charged water before a spark jumped from the bath and landed on his cheek, snapping him out of his stupor. Pulling his wife away from the horrifying scene he failed to notice that the point the hairdryer had been connected had been shut off... and the plug had been pulled from it, leaving no way for the electricity to have been connected to the water at all...

* * *

Hiroto was sitting in a hallway in the Hokage Tower, waiting for the council to return from their call to the vet. After the people had left, he had run straight to the Hokage, who just happened to be in a meeting with the elders, to tell him about the fox they had found, and the blonde enemy that had nearly killed them all. Needless to say they were shocked, but he could also see what might have been a gleam of triumph in the eyes of the elders, like they had finally caught their prey which had eluded them for so long. He shivered, not just because of the cold breeze that seemingly came out of nowhere, but the look the elders had had been so ruthless and malicious it sent shivers down his spine.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. Turning his head quickly he spotted... nothing. The leaves of a pot plant were rustling from the wind but that was all. Wait. Frowning, Hiroto looked to see that the hallway he was in had no windows. It was long and the only decorations were a few plants that were still shaking with an ominous breeze. Gulping nervously, he tried to get back to his thoughts. Wait, what just brushed against his leg? Looking down there was... nothing again! What was going on? Standing quickly, he put his back to the wall and drew a kunai. Was that footsteps he heard? Slicing at where the sound came from, he met no resistance as his weapon slid harmlessly through empty air. Eyes darting around wildly, he tried to see where the malicious presence he felt was. But he couldn't. It was everywhere, suffocating him from every direction. He started to breath heavily, feeling like he wasn't getting enough air into his lungs. The icy fingers of fear digging themselves deep into his gut. He felt like a trapped animal, backed into a corner and helpless against the predator stalking him. The leaves on the plant in front of him start to blow wildly, wind whipping in every direction. Fear motivating him, he started to slash at the mini whirlwind, but it was useless.

Growing in size the wind moved to encircling him, surrounding him on all sides. The air screamed with the ferocity of the gale. Hiroto gasped; no air able to enter his body. Eyes bugging and mouth gaping like a fish, he continued to slash at the air. Suddenly the air died down, hearing footsteps off to his side he lashed out, only to have his attack... blocked? Looking through the blurry haze that covered his eyes he made out the alarmed forms of the elders and council.

"Hiroto! What are you doing?" asked a bewildered council member. But he couldn't answer. His voice was lost as the air from his lungs was slowly drained, but not replenished. The council members watched on in horror as the boy suffocated on the air itself.

* * *

Two boys arrived at an empty apartment in the centre of the village. Each was leaning against each other for support. They were the other assailants against Kyuubi, and happened to be brothers. Entering the small apartment, the elder of the two noticed that it was infinitely hotter than what it was outside. Limping through the vacant rooms, he noticed the heater was on full blast. Thinking back to his routine this morning, he didn't remember turning the heater on.

"Hey, Aniki!" called his younger brother. "Did you leave the tap on this morning?"

""No, why?" he replied, following his voice until he found himself ankle deep in water flooding from the kitchen. The minute he stepped into the room to join his brother a wall of water swirled in the doorway, enclosing the siblings in the room. The younger ran to his brother and held onto his arm with an unforgiving grip that told of his fear.

"Aniki, What's happening?" he screamed at his brother, but the words fell upon deaf ears. All sound ceased to be noticed as a roaring filled both ears of the two boys. Fire suddenly spewed from the hater in the other room and thrust itself through the wall of water. Steam hissed from the two elements at the violent contact, quickly filling the small kitchen of the apartment. Gazes hazy from the steam and feeling soaked and burned at the same time, the brothers could do nothing but hold onto each other as the room filled with water and fire...

They were found in the middle of the cool kitchen floor, bodies still wet and smoky. Kitchen dry as a bone, but all the investigators could determine as cause of death was that they were boiled alive...

* * *

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence between Kiba and the remaining Guardian did Akamaru finally get tired of sitting still and being silent in the tension filled room. Trotting over to the Guardian of Earth and Wood, he started barked excitedly in what Kiba could only describe as introducing himself. Earth and Wood observed the little canine yapping at its feet with interest. The puppy was a part of their master's pack apparently and had to be treated with respect.

A vine lifted itself from one of Earth and Wood's forepaws and flicked Akamaru on the nose. The white puppy was stunned for a second before leaping onto the fox's back and began wrestling with the spirit. Kiba was shocked. How did Akamaru do these things? In about ten seconds he had removed all tension from the room. Unknown to Kiba and Akamaru, the other spirit guardians had returned and were now watching the scene unfolding in the operating room with much curiosity. Kiba noticed them from the corner of his eye when the Guardian of Fire and Magma started encouraging the little puppy on with small growls and yips. The other foxes were, smiling? Grinning? Whatever they did to show they were slightly amused, other than the glint that was currently present in their eyes. As Earth and Wood pinned Akamaru, besting him, Water and Ice leapt into the fray**,** tackling Earth and Wood off the energetic puppy. Akamaru barked playfully at his new ally, before they joined against earthen spirit. When the elemental fox lay beaten underneath Akamaru's paws, and he stood atop of it and posed as if he had defeated a mighty pose, Kiba lost it. He laughed. The foxes froze, as if they had forgotten he was there and only now remembering his presence. Akamaru turned towards his master and barked happily; proud he had gotten the better of a legendary spirit fox, even if he had help. This made Kiba laugh all the more. It was infectious, and soon he heard a rumbling sound from the Earth and Wood fox, which he assumed was laughter.

A chorus of excited yips and barks filled the room as the foxes conversed with one another. Looking at Lightning and Sound, Kiba noticed that its chest was puffed out slightly and he sat a little straighter than the other, was he proud of something? Must have done well on whatever errand Kyuubi sent it on. Kiba blinked. _Wow, there's a sentence I never thought I's say... or think. _In fact, all of the guardians that left for some reason or another looked mighty pleased with themselves. Hopefully their good mood will allow them to treat him better for the week ahead. He really didn't think being in a room full of hostile, powerful, legendary spirit foxes was all that great for your health...

...

His feet barely touched the ground as he raced towards where her faint scent was coming from. Along with her scent, there was blood and ashes and death. She was somewhere dangerous and he needed to get her back to Naruto now! Every step he took further from the sick blonde, he grew more desperate as it would mean a longer journey back, traveling at a humans pace. Growling to himself, he pushed himself faster as he became a red blur amongst the ivy green leaves of the forest.


	21. Chapter 20

The smell of blood hung thick in the air. Bodies laid strewn over the bridge as if a child decided they didn't want it's dolls anymore and just threw them without a care to where they landed. A lone woman walked through the massacre, covered in the blood of the lifeless corpses around her. Her face had the look of disgust on it at she surveyed the area around her. In the distance she could hear cheering and celebrating as the newly liberated village feasted at the conquest of their former oppressor. Ignoring the sounds of celebration she could hear multiple footsteps approaching her. Turning she waited for the two men, boy and small woman to join her.

"You felt it to, didn't you?" asked one man gruffly. His face was covered by bandages and his eyes reminded her of a shark. He was never one for emotion, as such displays made him uncomfortable, but this was a special case. The woman nodded, worry gnawing at her insides. She too felt the pulse of life force from their blonde companion, now there was sign of that life force anywhere.

"We should head to the Leaf and check up on him. He may need our help." The boy said softly. His face was covered with a mask, and if not knowing he was in fact a male, those there would have sworn he was female. His build was slight and when his mask was removed, his features incredibly feminine.

"Kyuubi would have contacted us if something was seriously wrong. I trust in his judgment." The woman replied, but her worried tone gave away her confidence.

"We should at least see what's happening in Leaf. We haven't been there for a while," the other man put in. His long, white spiky hair was held back by a metal hitai-ate that had the kanji for 'oil' engraved on it. Just as the blonde woman opened her mouth to reply, a red blur shot out from the mist that shrouded the village and headed straight for the group. Instantly on guard, the group stood ready to attack the unknown presence.

Just as the blur reached them, the man with bandages swung his giant sword at it. The greatest defence in his opinion was offence. The blur dodged instantly, vanishing from sight for a moment before appearing in front of the blonde woman and knocking her down.

Startled that something had broken through her defences, the woman prepared to fight back, before she registered the familiar presence. Furry paws planted themselves onto her chest and pressed down with urgency. Her heart froze over with terror and dread. Their worst fears had happened.

"Take me to him!" she demanded. The others around her stopped at the urgency in her voice, before they to, recognized the red blur. Nine red tails whipped about in a frenzy.

"Kyuubi... what happened to Naruto?"

...

Sasuke paced outside of the locked operating room. It had been four days since Naruto had brought Kyuubi back to life and after the initial shock of learning that Naruto was the master of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the legendary Nine-Tailed fox, had worn off slightly, strange thoughts had been plaguing his mind.

At first he thought it was the idea of power that had attracted him to the boy, a ninja his age with unknown skills that he could learn, power he could achieve – but now he wasn't so sure. Seeing the connection between the boy and fox had stirred something within him, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. It was almost a yearning, a longing for that sort of bond with someone. But he shunned away from that idea. The last time he had that type of bond, it had been with his older brother... and he had killed everyone else Sasuke held dear then left, leaving him alone, his only friend the nightmares of the massacre. And then he witnessed one of the most amazing things in his life, the boy had summoned legendary spirits and healed the certainly dead fox.

The amount of power he felt emanating from the blonde was staggering, and his initial plans of forcing him to teach and train him resurfaced. He could kill Itaichi with this! This boy was the key to his vengeance! But then they had been thrown out the room, and for some strange reason, only Kiba had been allowed back in. He could understand the fox keeping Kakashi out, he has been single-mindedly focused on eradicating the demon since he found out its true identity. And there was some sort of sore history, which he bet the fox was a big reason of, between Kakashi and Naruto.

Turning his head slightly he saw Kakashi charge at the door yet again, lightning spewing from his palm and crackling up his arm, only for it to dissipate upon contact with the wall, and a gust of wind throwing him back to where he started from. Each time the wind got more violent and rough and each time Kakashi got back up, slightly angrier, before charging at the wall yet again. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his sensei's stupidity. If he just stood back and thought logically about the situation then he might realise that the fox and the boy hadn't killed or hurt anyone in the entire time they were in the village.

As he studied the door, he realised that no movement had happened since Kiba had entered. So how are they surviving? It had been four days, Sasuke didn't know about the foxes being in there, but Naruto and Kiba had to eat something. Sasuke resumed his pacing, pondering the problem. Kyuubi was awake in there, Naruto not. Kiba was in there but from what he had observed of the canine-boy's skills, he wasn't able to use the shunshin jutsu yet. The elemental foxes could obviously move through matter, if the room's defences were anything to judge by, but are they able to hold solid material and transport it through walls? He wasn't sure, so he classed it as maybe in his mind.

An Anbu attempting to use a katon jutsu on the metal hinges of the door to melt them off jump started Sasuke's memory. In the gennin exams, Kyuubi had teleported in a ball of fire and then brought back the hundreds of birds for Naruto to heal. Kyuubi must be the one getting food for the two boys in there! That means he is leaving the room, which means the target of Kakashi and the Anbu is not even in there at the moment! Sasuke snorted, and all-knowing Uchiha he is, but even as a gennin he was able to work this out before the revenge driven Kakashi and squad of Anbu. Maybe if he could distract the Anbu and Kakashi with this information he would be able to work out a way to get into the room and speak with the blonde boy, if he's conscious.

A small tremor ran through Sasuke's body. _If he's conscious_. He didn't know why but that one sentence sent a trill of fear through him. He shook his head. If he wasn't conscious then he wouldn't be able to teach him anything... that what the fear was of. It has to be it. He didn't care about the boy; he had no bonds to the blonde. No. He would never have bonds again, they hurt too much.

Making up his mind, he turned away from the obviously futile attempts at breaching the room and walked out of the hospital.

...

Inside the operating room was silent. Naruto still lay upon the metal table in the centre of the room, surrounded by greenery that shouldn't be able to grow and blossom inside the concrete walls. A boom of thunder sounded, waking Kiba from his slumber. It was how he was woken every day, or whenever the spirits decided he had slept enough. The windowless room made it hard for him to determine when it was night or day, so when he got tired he slept, and then the foxes would wake him when they decided he had slept enough. Over the past few days they had settled into some sort of a routine. They were less hostile then when he had first met them, but not quiet on the same level as friends. More like acquaintances or colleagues, human and fox united under the same cause. Naruto. Every time Kiba thought about the blonde his mind was filled with worry. He barely knew the blonde boy but for some strange reason he felt a strong connection to him. So each day that Kyuubi didn't return with help and Naruto's skin grew colder and colder, he grew more and more desperate.

He remembered a couple of hours after Kyuubi had left, he asked the fox of Water and Ice to fetch some blankets and a futon for him. He could still feel the ice cold tips of the needle sharp icicles levelled at his throat. It had taken all of his courage to push them aside and tell them it was for Naruto and not him. That made the others pause, mid-leap at him. Akamaru had whined a _why? _sound; and he told them because the table was cold and Naruto would get chilled on the metal table. Water and Ice nodded his agreement and melted into a puddle of water before disappearing completely, only to reappear later with multiple pillows and blankets made from silk. Kiba laughed when he saw the insignia of the Uchihas on the pillows and blankets; at he knows that they'll be the best.

A sharp prod by a wet nose in his back forced him to resume his routine. The foxes got bored with staying in the one room, only leaving when Kiba needed food or drink or to relieve himself. Naruto didn't need any of those things as the spirits fed him energy somehow. Tuning their chakra pathways to his and replenishing his health. Entertaining themselves with repelling the ninja outside the room only went so far, so they did the only other thing they could do. Train Kiba. Well that what they told him, but he rather call it torture.

They gave him the idea on the second day after they had a contest to see who could throw Kakashi the farthest. Using the same form of communication Kyuubi did when he spoke to Kiba, by placing a tail on his skin. He also gave them names, as Water and Ice, Lightning and Sound, etc. tended to get a bit tedious when saying it over and over. So, they were Ember, Aqua, Terra, Sparks and Gale.

Terra was by far the gentlest of the five, meditating for a solid two hours first thing when he woke. The only thing was the others would do all they could to distract him such as encircling him in fire, drenching his clothes in icy water, giving his body random zaps with electricity and forming mini tornados around his mediative form, And if he so much as twitched in reaction to them, he had to start the two hours again. It was a long process but Kiba could ignore all but the strongest jolts of electricity from Sparks.

After meditation was dodging and flexibility from Aqua. He had to learn to flow like water, smooth and graceful... by dodging razor sharp icicles hurtling from all directions. Being friends with Hinata had its advantages, such as learning how to dodge attacks coming from behind you, but that didn't really come in handy when there were ten large icicles come from every direction. He was glad he was raised in a veterinarian clinic and knew the basic healing jutsu; otherwise he'd look like a bunch of ribbons.

Ember taught him how to improve his techniques with Akamaru, using fire to separate them and force them to go through any means to return to each other. Before they had a point five of a second to react to an attack from one of the other spirits,

Gale was working on his chakra control, making him stand upside down on the ceiling for extended periods of time, whilst wind blew at him from all directions, making him unstable. Once he mastered that, Gale got Aqua to make a pool of water for him to practice water walking... whilst avoiding tidal waves made by the two of them together.

Then there was Sparks. Out of all of them, he was the harshest. His choice of training was to improve his pain threshold, so if he ever got interrogated, he wouldn't talk. So that meant being shocked constantly by him until he could bring a piece of rice to his mouth with chopsticks, without dropping it. As they progressed the tasks got more difficult and the shocks more deadly. That fox certainly had a vicious streak in it.

He was about to settle in to his mediative position when the excited yips of the spirits filled the room. Ember and Sparks the most active. Curious, but wary this was another ploy to make him move, Kiba stayed still. If it was important, they would tell him... right? Akamaru listened to the yips in interested before nudging Kiba's leg. Kiba opened an eye and looked at his pet. Akamaru wouldn't do anything to distract him in his study, so it must be alright to move.

"What's happened?" he asked the spirits, still not moving from his spot, just to be sure. He felt a tendril of a vine creep along his sleeve until it reached his bare skin. _The Uchiha boy has staked out the area where we usually retrieve your sustenance and set up traps at the other places we have visited in recent human days. He is quite intelligent for a human. We are discussing the best way to dispose of him._

That startled him. If it was the only thing he learned from the foxes, is that the best way usually meant the most fun way... for them. Sasuke Uchiha is probably going to be hanging upside down by his intestines off one of the Hokage monuments or something. _We hadn't thought of that. A good idea. I shall put it forward to my brothers. _Terra loped off to join its brethren.

"Akamaru?" a whine answered him. "Did I just suggest a way to kill the only heir to the Uchiha clan?" a short bark, yes. "Do you think they would actually try it?" another short bark yes. "Shit..." he rushed to the foxes, where they looked like they were going to depart, a noose made from one of Terra's vines between them.

"Wait, wait! You can't kill Sasuke!" he said desperately, Akamaru barking in agreement next to him. The foxes paused and as one tilted their heads to the side in a silent question of _why? _

"Because he is the last Uchiha, that's why! If you kill him the Uchiha's will die out! And you cant just go round killing people!" Ember's eyes widened, you could see the white fire around his magma eyes. A ribbon of flame danced of to Kiba as lightly pressed on his skin.

_What do you mean, they will die out? I gifted the Uchiha clan with mastery of the flame in the beginning. They are the elite of you humans. The last I checked in on them was to remove my power from the one that that killed your ruler the First Hokage. How have they been eliminated like common cattle?_

Kiba shook under the intensity of Ember's voice. "I-I don't know everything, just rumours. Everything that happened has been classified as an S-class secret. It's been generations since the First was alive and ruling, the current ruler is the Third and he's an old man. About four years after the Kyuubi incident, an Uchiha went rogue and killed everybody in the Uchiha district leaving only Sasuke alive. Now Sasuke is heel bent on killing him and avenging his clan." Utter silence filled the cold room Kiba shivered slightly as the heavy atmosphere pressed in around him. Suddenly the room filled with white hot flame as the fox of Fire and Magma seemed to explode.

_Oath-breakers! Kin-slayers! Betrayers! Murderers! I should have killed him when I had the chance! This mistake must be rectified!_

Kiba grabbed Naruto and threw him into the furthest corner of the room and covered him with his body, shielding him from the rogue flames. Gale leapt to cover him, using his wind to blow away the majority of the fire from the two boys. Aqua leapt directly into the fray, fighting Ember's fire directly, making the room fill with steam. Terra started making earthen walls to contain them whilst Sparks took over the defences of the room, making sure no Anbu take advantage of this one week moment and break through. A loud explosion shook the room. It took Kiba a moment to realize that the explosion didn't occur in the room, but outside of it.

An ear-splitting roar pierced the air, commanding fear with its ferocity. The fires instantly died down, all spirits on alert. Kiba crouched in front of the unconscious blonde, ready to attack whatever was outside the room, Akamaru just in front of him, fur in end and lips bared in a silent growl. The sealed doors blasted inwards, metal twisting out of shape at the force that took them off their hinges. Kiba went over all he had learned the past four days in his head as he drew chakra into his hands. In the doorway stood a well endowed blonde woman, with a very scary look on her face. Behind her the sounds of screaming could be heard as well as many vicious growls and... was that a toad croaking? The woman's eyes scanned the room, passing over Kiba as if he were invisible.

"Where is he?" she demanded of the Guardians who stood before her. Kiba noted her dishevelled appearance and slightly damp clothing. He also noticed that the Guardians were leading her over to him.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Kiba said defensively, still not trusting the woman who had randomly appeared out of nowhere. She stopped and glared at Kiba, before looking confused. She looked towards Terra with a questioning look on her face. A vine detached itself from the earthen spirit at snaked over to place itself on the woman's ankle. Seconds went by in silence, in which Kiba gathered more chakra as discreetly as he could. The woman's face went from confused to shock, and then worried. Before Kiba could blink, the woman had thrown him across the room and dived to the side of the blonde who he was shielding.

"I couldn't even sense him..." she muttered worriedly, her hands glowing green as she examined him. Kiba got up painfully and limped over to the woman.

"Who are you?" he asked again, but softer as he recognised the advanced healing chakra that was being emitted from her person. The blonde woman spared him a brief glance before focusing all her attention on Naruto.

"His mother," she replied curtly. Kiba nodded in understanding and gave her room. He knew from experience never get between a mother and her pup; he had the scars to prove it. Although he still didn't trust her fully, and kept his posture and chakra on the ready, in case she tried anything. A disgusted snort made him whip his head around to the door that was blown open, before feeling a jab to the back of his neck and he fell into the embrace of unconsciousness.

"Is this really the standard of Konoha shinobi these days?" the bandaged man asked no one in particular. "He totally forgot about the Anbu outside."

"It's not his fault, he couldn't sense them if he tried. You took them all out remember?" laughed the older man with white, spiky hair, which was covered in an unknown slime. The bandages over the other man's face creased along the lines of the grin he was wearing.

"But he didn't sense us," added the youth, stepping over the unconscious body of an Anbu unfortunate enough to have been their opponents. The older man raised an eyebrow.

"You expect a gennin to be able to sense someone of _your _skill? Even I have trouble doing that sometime!" he pointed out. The youth just shrugged making the older men laugh, and walked over to the blonde woman, who had begun muttering under her breath. He looked over her shoulder and his eyes widened. Naruto's skin was paler than his mask, his breathing was near undetectable and shivers racked his frame. He looked nothing like the bubbly blonde he knew. He cast a fretful look towards the other two men, and they instantly quietened.

"How is he?" asked the bandaged man gruffly, only those who knew him would be able to hear the worried tone in his voice.

"Not good, I can't do anything by myself. Kyuubi!" she yelled, never taking her focus off the blonde that was now lying in her lap. He appeared beside her instantaneously, blood dripping from his claws and fur rippling in anger. His rage quickly died when his eyes took in the blonde's condition. A furry tail appeared in her hand and the two held a conversation using their innermost thoughts, taking about ten seconds to the others, but to them it was hours. They could only do one thing to help him. It would give him unimaginable power and it would change his life forever

...as well as outcast him more so from other people

... and make him hate them forever


	22. Chapter 21

IM NOT DEAD! for all those worried that id mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth, ITS OK! im not dead or some zombie trying to eat your brains :D you can stop the worrying and screaming for a new chapter? great right? now im going to hid from all the angry people holding sharp pitchforks and torches outside my house... enjoy the chapter, i'll come back out from under my bed when the next one is ready to come out.

And steph, sister dearest... how dare you not proof read my chapter before I upload it coz your reading another story! : prepare for me to set my army of man-babies onto you! No amount of hazardous cookies will save you! when you go into work, it will secretly be a mental hospital full of unicorns and authority wielding turtles! fear the turtles! mwahahaha... inside joke... im not strange...im normal... ish

* * *

He could hear crying. Someone was crying. The sound of heart-wrenching sobs echoed around him like the harsh cries of a newborn child. Looking around, Naruto could see nothing, only white. It wasn't even white, more like the colour of light. Soft, glowing light that surrounding him and enveloped him in its hold. It would have almost been comforting if it wasn't for the disturbing wails that pierced through the calm aura. Strange, he thought.

The crying sound didn't stop, but there was no one here but him. The light stretched endlessly into nothing. A splash of moisture on his hand caught his attention. He watched as the droplet followed the curve of his hand until it ended at his fingertip. It clung to his finger like a lifeline until gravity took its hold once more and the drop fell into the nothingness, enveloped by light. Another drop followed its predecessor, moving quicker along the already damp path along his hand that had been made by the first drop of water.

Curiously he brought his hand to his face, and felt wet patches on his cheeks. The crying was coming from him. Raw, broken sobs emitted from his throat and he had no idea why. He felt so sad, so lost and tortured... but he didn't know why.

A warm feeling settle around his shaking shoulders, like a feather boa wrapping around his body, as well as other intangible appendages, just like the first, circling him, holding him tight. Naruto embraced the soft, ghostly appearance with vigor, a strong feeling of dread clawing at his insides. Still he did not know why, and it was beginning to scare him.

A pair of arms, strong but comforting, embraced him as well, drawing him into their protective hold. The feeling of dread grew stronger as each of the embraces started to release him. Fear engulfed him as he clutched desperately at the departing presences. As the embraces started to fade, the light seemed throb brighter. Something was pulling at him, taking him from the fading feelings of comfort and love. He didn't know what was happening but he knew if he let them go he would regret it forever. He could hear his sobs and cries becoming more desperate as the pulling got stronger, more impatient.

The white became more intense; he felt the presence with multiple soft furry boas shoot one of its appendages into his stomach with force. Naruto doubled over as he felt heat spread from the point of impact. The heat increased in temperature until his cries weren't from his anguish but from the agony of the fire racing throughout his veins. Then it was as if someone had flicked an off switch and the heat instantly vanished, leaving nothing of the first presence in its departure. The second presence seemed to hesitate before approaching and suddenly colliding with his forehead. Naruto braced for the expected burning but instead felt as if his blood turned to ice as a freezing feeling overcame him and engulfed him. Not even a whimper escaped his mouth as it was frozen in place. Then, just as the first presence did, it disappeared without a trace, taking the cold with it.

The light was nearly blinding now, Naruto cried with loss as the he could no longer feel the presences. Whatever was pulling at him gave a final tug and Naruto was ripped from the light.

...

"Brat! Wake up!" a loud voice boomed through his skull. Naruto groaned. His stomach felt like it was holding in a thunderstorm and his head felt like it was on fire. "Brat, I said wake up!" As the words registered in his mind, Naruto shot up instantly, before doubling over in agony as pain raced through out his body.

'I'm...up" he gasped out through the pain. Years of training with the perverted sage had made him never ignore him when he said to wake up. Hands came out of nowhere to support his shaking frame.

"How're you feeling?" a soft voice asked. Naruto turned his head and saw a Mist hunter-nin. Naruto grinned weakly.

"Hey Haku, when'd you get here?" Haku smiled softly; trust Naruto to turn the attention away from himself so easily.

"You didn't answer his question runt," a gruff voice interrupted. Or not so easily smiled Haku as the bandaged man came into Naruto's view.

"Zabuza, don't you have a war to wage?" Naruto joked.

"Not when my pupil decides to get himself near killed. Now answer the question."

"I'm fine, never felt better." He insisted, before letting out a gasp of pain as Haku poked his stomach.

"Thought so," he said in that soft voice of his. Naruto grunted in annoyance, before whipping his head up. The others looked at him as they watched the blonde search the room frantically, Ignoring the other boy and dog in the room, before he spied the blood red fox in the corner of the room. Ignoring his pain, Naruto jumped off the operating table and raced to the fox.

"Kyuubi! You're okay!" he said gleefully and hugged the fox. The soft furry body stilled as the blonde boy hugged it, before survival instincts took over and claws lashed out at the unknown presence. Naruto reeled back as the kitsune bared it fangs at him in warning. "Kyuubi? What's wrong? Is this 'coz of not waiting for you to heal on your own? I know it was wrong but I couldn't bear for you to not be here with me. I need you Kyuubi. You're my best friend, please don't be mad!" The fox just stared at the boy. Naruto waited for the usual sarcastic comment, or the expected stupid kit, but all he heard was silence. "Kyuubi?" Naruto said tentatively, reaching out to touch the fox. The animal lashed out at Naruto with its claws, warning him to stay away. "Kyuubi, what's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?"

"Naruto, that's not Kyuubi," Naruto turned his head and saw familiar spiky white hair. His usually goofy face had a serious expression that seemed unnatural on the pervert's face.

"What do you mean Ero-sennin?" Naruto cautiously questioned. He became aware of a heavy feeling of dread in his stomach. Looking about the room of familiar faces, except the Leaf boy and his dog, he instantly noticed the missing face amongst them.

"Hey, where's kaa-san?" At the question, Jiraiya's face crumpled with despair. The feeling of dread intensified. "Ero-sennin, where's my kaa-san?" Naruto's tone started to grow in pitch as desperation laced his voice. Turning to the small woman who had accompanied them, but had remained silent he asked again, "Shizune nee-san... Where's my mum?"

"Naruto, calm down! They're still here... just... not here exactly..." Jiraiya fumbled with his speech as he tried to soften the blow of what had happened. The panic in Naruto's chest dimmed slightly but was still a cold feeling stirring just beneath his skin. As calmly as he could, he asked again.

"Ero-sennin... where is Kyuubi and my my mother?" Before Jiraiya could answer, Haku stepped forward.

"Maybe it you would understand if you looked at your reflection," he suggested cautiously. As he spoke, a mirror formed from ice appeared. Naruto stepped forward slowly, apprehensive for some reason he did not know. He was afraid of looking in the mirror. Like it was an enemy that would show him something that would make his nightmares seem like the happiest dreams. And his nightmares were something to be afraid of.

He finally came into view of the mirror and saw himself looking back. He noticed first that his shirt had been ripped in half and showed his stomach... his stomach. Black markings, similar to a tattoo, traced intricately into a seal glared back at him, contrasting painfully with his deathly pale skin. It was a seal he recognized with dread. The seal that held the Kyuubi, before they made the alterations to it to allow him freedom in the body of the fox. The Shiki Fuujin. Naruto's skin, already near transparent from his short coma, paled even further as the implications of what the seal on his stomach meant. Kyuubi was back inside of him, unable to talk to him or communicate unless he was in peril. He was back to square one with the fox.

Remembering the dream like state he was in before he woke, and how he felt pain in both his stomach and head, his eyes darted up to his face. Widened in fear, his electric blue eyes stared back at him, the whites visible. His blonde hair was limp and dangled around his face lifelessly. His face was gaunt and drawn, making him look much older than his young thirteen years. But what drew his attention was the mark that now adorned his brow.

A small purple diamond sat proudly and directly between his eyebrows. Four lines flowed from each plane of the diamond the same hue as the center mark. The top two lines followed along the crease of his forehead with swirls and curls and traced up into his hairline. The bottom two dropped down and went over his eyes and made lines down his cheeks, before jutting up up slightly and rounded the curve of his mouth, looking like tears were flowing down his face. Naruto recognized this seal as well. It was an Uzumaki clan secret, one of their most prized. It was the jutsu that allowed the Uzumaki's to live exceptionally long lives. The Yin seal. Tsunade learned it from her grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, and was going to teach Naruto how to use in a few years when he was ready for the responsibility, no matter how many times he bugged her to teach it to him early. But now it seems he got his silly wish.

The purple lines that ran down his face grew a shade darker as real tears overflowed from Naruto's eyes. He had lost them. He had lost them both. They both sealed themselves inside him to help his body recover from the damage of bringing Kyuubi back. In the rational part of his mind, he understood it was the best decision. If only one of them had performed the sealing, then would have ended up like him and died, but with the two of them, they both survived, inside him.

But at the moment the rational side of his brain was being overwhelmed by the enormity of emotions that were rampaging though him right now. They had left him, and had sealed themselves inside him. He had told them before how much he hated the seal. Like he was just an object used to control the Kyuubi, not a person. The seal was a prison and he was the jailor. He was keeping his best friend contained, and now, his mother too... he was keeping his mother in a cell...

An agonizing roar erupted from Naruto's throat at the loss of the two most important people in his life. He crumpled to the ground, unable to look at his reflection any more, the physical truth of what had happened. Hatred of himself and anger at what the two had done circled within him, growing stronger with every second.

The Guardians formed a circle around the host of their master, and howled. It was an eery sound filled with loss and misery, that blended in with the cry from Naruto creating a wail that was the very essence of anguish. The sound carried out of the room to where back-up was just arriving for their comrades who had fallen when Tsunade, Jiraiya and the others had arrived, causing them to pause for a moment and weep, before continuing on to the operating room. As the Leaf ninja arrived, they were at a loss on what to do. Their orders were to contain the demon fox, but there was more than one. Five demons surrounded the Kyuubi host, all were making the sorrowful wail. Beside the foxes stood Jiraiya, legendary Toad Sage, whilst Zabuza of the Mist, an A rank missing nin stood next to him with a Hunter nin from the Mist by his side. A small woman was crying, whom they recognized as Tsunade's vassal, plus in the corner stood a Konoha genin... They didn't know where to start.

Before the Anbu could take any action, the councilors arrived, dressed in their battle clothes and stared at the room with cold calculating eyes. When Naruto raised his tear stained face to the door way, Koharu stepped back as she recognized the seal on his face. Gathering her wits quickly, she issued her orders.

"Take the Kyuubi brat into custody. Put him in the sealing cell, and make sure ALL of his chakra is drained." immediately the Anbu sprang into action, following their orders obediently and without question. Before they could get close though, a massive frog appeared from no where and swallowed up the group that stood around the cold operating table and then poofed out of existence. The assembled Konoha ninja stared at the now empty room, the only sign of the people that once occupied the room was the slowly melting ice mirror, and fluffy pillows and a futon with the Uchiha symbol on them.

...

The owner of said pillows and futon was currently waging a war. It was a battle of epic proportions that would be told in stories till the end of time... between his self control and the painful cramp that just took root in his calf. The temptation to stand and stretch it out was overwhelming, but using his iron-clad control of his body, Sasuke squashed that feeling and stayed where he was... crouched in a tree outside of the market that he estimated Kyuubi was getting food for Kiba from.

If he caught the fox getting nourishment for the boy, he was sure the fox would take him to the blonde. He would be able to help him recover in some way. Whenever he questioned himself as to why he was doing this he convinced himself it was so the blonde would feel indebted to him and show him all of his powerful techniques, and then mercilessly crush the feeling of worry and concern for the boy that kept worming itself through his mind.

He shook himself of his thoughts just as and explosion shook the ground. Getting his balance back quickly, Sasuke looked towards the direction the explosion came from. He was currently in the side streets that rested against the edge of the village's wall, a remote place that didn't get much business during the day. It's main money maker was when the sun went down, and the streets transformed into Konoha's shady, red-light district.

One would think that a well-known and powerful village like the Hidden Leaf, wouldn't chance the risk of smearing their name with a sleazy part of town like this, but it served it's purpose. Where better to gather information from the public then when their minds are clouded by alcohol and the husky voice of a temptress wispers sins in your ear? Kunoichi made themselves famous by working the establishments in this area, it was where the majority of female ninjas decided to become employed if field work was to much for them. Many assassinations are loked over if they are committed in a questionable household.

The explosion had come from the hospital, over the river that ran through Konoha. Only due to the quiet nature of this district during the day had Sasuke been able to catch the sound as it was at least half the village over.

Sasuke was torn. Obviously the explosion had something to do with Naruto, who else could it be? But if he left to go check it out, he might miss the Kyuubi coming to get food and other beverages for the child, he would miss his chance! Weighing his options, he decided to stay where he was. There was no guarantee that if he rushed to the hospital, he would be able to see the blond. More than likely the blonde would be kept under surveillance, he did kind of take a hospital room and barricade it against the village. But just to be on the safe side, Sasuke decided to move three building over and two stories higher, this way he could hear what was happening at the hospital better and get a small view of it whilst keeping the marked shop in his sights. Feeling proud of himself at his quick thinking skills, he settled down to watch the shop, whilst keeping the hospital in the corner of his eye.

The minutes ticked slowly by, turning into an hour and nothing happened down in the street and no other sound or commotion was heard from the hospital. Boredom growing with every quiet minute, the merciless cramp took hold once again, forcing Sasuke's attention away from the street. Just as he decided to stand up and stretch it out, his vision was engulfed by fire and then everything went black.

...

Kiba stared at the uncomfortable situation around him. Akamaru had decided to hide in his jacket as he didn't want to face the looks that he was currently on the receiving end of. The man with a massive sword had settled down to just glaring at him, occasionally casting worried glances to the zombified blonde that wasn't reacting to anything. The girly looking guy and the small woman and pig were fretting over him and sometimes looking at Kiba with something akin to suspicion. The old white-headed dude was just plain ranting to the foxes and then to Naruto and then screaming something about stupid blond's taking drastic decisions and sealing themselves away. Four of the elemental foxes had taken up guard points, making a square with one in each were currently about two leagues from the east wall of Konoha, in a small clearing surrounded by thick forest. The white-haired guy had summoned a massive toad that had transported them away from the hospital. They were currently trying to get Naruto to react to anything they could, but each attempt was as futile as the last, as nothing they tried could rouse the once energetic child. The other Guardian had gone to fetch something that might help with the comatose blond, something that Kiba himself had suggested.

From what he could understand, the boy had just lost his mother and his pack-brother, two of his most important people. Now Kiba knew one thing about pack and that was that pack was family, pack was everything. If he lost Akamaru and his mum all in one blow, he probably wouldn't even be living. But he had never suffered anything like that, he didn't know what it felt like to have everything ripped away from you. He only knew of one person who might be able to understand Naruto's pain and help him through it. But even he knew it was a long-shot. A blast of fire in the middle of the clearing broke Kiba of his thoughts and he focused on the black bundle that was dumped unceremoniously on the ground by Ember.

Sasuke Uchiha, last loyal remaining Uchiha to the Hidden Leaf village and only hope for the revival and vengeance of his clan, looked around at the suddenly different and hostile surroundings that he was now in the middle of. A large man with a wickedly sharp sword stood up and walked slowly towards him, like a hunter stalking his prey.

"This is the brat that can help the gaki?" he demanded of someone behind him. Sasuke didn't move but kept his eyes trained on the lethal weapon that was being wielded with grace and ease by the bandaged man.

"Yeah, that's Sasuke Uchiha. If anyone knows what he's going through it is him," a vaguely recognizable voice answered.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a tickling sensation around his wrists. Glancing down quickly he saw tongues of flames wrapping themselves around him, before he could open his mouth and yelp like he so desperately wanted to, he was yanked around and faced bright molten eyes. Another ribbon of flame extended itself from the body of the burning fox that held him and placed itself on his brow. A probing feeling at the edge of his consciousness drew his attention to the fiery connection between him and the fox. Sasuke looked at it curiously. he knew he should be afraid, being imprisoned by fire and surround by unknown hostiles, but in the presence of the creature holding him, he couldn't find it within himself to feel fear. It was like he knew the fire, it was apart of him. With that thought and feeling he closed his eyes and allowed the proby feeling access to his mind.

He regretted it instantly. Immediately he was flung back through his memories to that night. Once again he saw that man stand over the bodies of his parents, slaughter his clan and chase him through the compound, making sounds of revulsion at his mind-numbing fear. He felt his little six-year old legs pounding the ground, his lungs screaming for air, his muscles burning with exhaustion and adrenalin, his throat hoarse from screaming for his aniki to stop, to let him live, to explain why... Then, just as suddenly as the images appeared, they vanished.

Sasuke opened his eyes warily, not noticing the tear marks that stained his cheeks or the slight tremble that had captivated his hands. The fire holding him released him, and he crumpled to the ground, finding the task of standing up too much for his shaking limbs at the moment. A pair of arms shaking brought him back to reality. looking up into the canine face of Kiba Inuzuka, someone from his Academy class if he remembered correctly, who was looking at him with worry. That's strange, people don't look at him with worry, they look at him with awe, sometimes approval, but never worry, not since that man took all those who cared for him away.

Shaking his head to rid himself of morbid memories, Sasuke pushed the concerned dog-boy away and stood up. Gathering all of his Uchiha pride and arrogance, he glared at the adults that had grouped to stand in front of him.

"Who are you and why have you taken me?" he demanded. The man with the sword grinned underneath his bandaged mask.

"I like you already brat." he commented. He was shoved aside by the old, white-haired man who stared at him seriously, no humor lighting his eyes.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he said is a grave voice. "My name is Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, and Toad-Sage of Mount Myoboku, Student of the Third Hokage of Konoha and Sensei of the Fourth Hokage of Konoha." Sasuke stared at the impressive man before him. He wore power and authority around him like a cloak. The others of the group seemed to look at him in surprise, as if they have never seen this side of him before, behind him he could sense Kiba's awe at being in the presence of the legendary ninja as well.

Ignoring the stares he was receiving, Jiraiya continued. "Sasuke Uchiha, I, Jaraiya, beg of you your help."


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 =]

Sasuke Uchiha stared at the man before him. Where ever this man went, legends were born of his prowess. Just mentioning his mere name got him the respect of nobles; ninja and civilian alike. And now this impressive man stood before him, begging him of his help? What could he do that this man could not? He was dimly aware of the other strange people staring at him as well. He knew he was an Uchiha and therefore elite amongst the ninja population, but what could he do, untrained as he was, compared to the Sannin before him?

Quelling the rising panic in him he voiced his doubts, "What can I do that you can't?" Even to him, his voice sounded incredulous, no matter how hard he tried to make it sound calm.

Jiraiya looked down at the youth before him. He understood where the boy was coming from. But it was not skills or techniques he was after, it was experience and wisdom that can only be learnt from suffering. Each of them knew what loss was, but none of them knew what it was like to lose the two closest people to you all in one go. That and Kyuubi was very much a part of Naruto, it was probably like losing half of his soul, and none of them could comprehend what he was going through or the words that could help him through it. Then the gennin boy that had been caught up in this mess had voiced an idea. The Uchiha child. He had his entire clan wiped out by his brother, the brother he loved more than anything. That had to be close to what Naruto was feeling. Maybe he could help. And so, the Guardian of Fire and Magma has instantly disappeared to collect the boy whose clan held mastery over his flame.

Not saying a word, Jiraiya looked behind him drawing Sasuke's eyes to the still figure on the forest floor. Naruto was slumped against a tree, eyes wide and unseeing. Tear stains ran down his cheeks, making the strange purple markings on his face darker. His shirt was ripped, showing Sasuke a view of his stomach which held a dark swirl with intricate lines and curls surrounding it.

"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke whispered, afraid that if he raised his voice any higher it might shatter the fragile looking boy. It was the Mist hunter Nin that answered him.

"He lost those who were closest to him, those who sacrificed themselves for him, those who saved him." the Nin said softly, matched Sasuke's hushed tone. It was then he understood why they had brought him here. They wanted him to make it better. That he would have some miracle cure to the suffering the blonde boy was going through. He was about to say he couldn't help when he caught sight of said blonde's eyes. They were so lost, so hurt, so lonely. How much did he himself wish for someone to come up to him and say the right words. Not just the empty sympathy or reassurances of his parents love.

But what did he know? He didn't know how Naruto had lost his precious people, he had no way of understanding the kind of suffering he was going through, the reason for it. Steeling himself

"Tell me what happened."

Jiraiya looked closely at the boy, as did Zabuza. Studying the young man before them, they came to a decision. If they really wanted his help, they were going to have to tell him everything. Well, not everything, such as Naruto's real parents or the reason why he came to the village, but the majority of it all. Getting nods of consent from the rest of the group, Jiraiya made Sasuke face him.

"This is gonna be a long story brat, get comfy."

...

Naruto was numb. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't feel anything. Well, he couldn't feel anything physically; his emotions were another matter entirely. He had heard the voices of sympathy, pity. The excuses they gave for the two that weren't here anymore, but it all fell onto deaf ears. Only one word, one question was left to rampage within his mind. Why?

They had sealed themselves inside of him. They were gone. They left him. They promised they would never leave. They promised! He couldn't fathom the reason why they would do this. Did they hate him? Hate him so much that they decided to leave? But not just leave, seal themselves away from him. The though made him question the motives behind every act of kindness they had ever shown him. The pain was overwhelming, and he was paralysed with it, he couldn't scream his agony because his throat wouldn't work. He couldn't tear at his stomach or face to remove the markings because his arms wouldn't move. So he just sat there staring at space, feeling nothing but pain.

Then a fist came flying at his face and knocked him to the ground. The physical pain was almost a relief from his turbulent thoughts, and the shock of the action made him focus on the person standing in front of him, and ignoring the stunned faces of the adults surrounding him. If Sasuke punching him felt like a brick to the face, his next words were like a sledge hammer.

'Your pathetic, no wonder they left you." his tone was cold, and full of disgust. Naruto could only stare at him uncomprehendingly.

"What?" he managed to whisper, thinking he misheard.

"You're pathetic." Sasuke repeated, but he didn't stop. "Your wallowing in self-pity sickens me and I barely know you. If this is what you are really like no wonder they left you, hell, sealed themselves away from you. I would have done the same thing. They must have really hated you and probably jumped at the opportunity to get away from such a loser-" Sasuke was cut off as multiple people threw themselves on him to shut up, various pointy objects held to various vulnerable places.

Each word held a barb of poison that stung Naruto deeply. Wasn't it what he was just thinking to himself? But as he heard the words come from someone else's mouth they sounded so... off.

"No, you're wrong,' he whispered. The words stopped the scuffle that was happening mere feet from him. Sasuke scoffed, ignoring the glares and threats of death he was receiving.

"Really, pray tell me how."

"Okaa-san saved me when I was hurt," he said, voice getting stronger.

"She was a traveling medic, she did what was in her job description, and you're no one special." he shot back.

"Kyuubi healed me when I was hurt!"

"If he cared why didn't he let the pain go away, instead of allowing it to happen over and over again?"

Naruto was speechless, true he had been thinking the exact same things mere seconds ago, but hearing them voiced made him want to deny it with all his being. He wanted Sasuke to stop, he wanted him to go away, but Sasuke didn't stop there.

"If they cared so much then why aren't they here?" The snide question, with viscous intent made Naruto snap. Tears streaming down his face he leapt up and hurled his fist at the face that was saying the hurtful comment, and he screamed. He screamed so loud his voice tore and made his throat raw.

"SHUT UP! JUST, SHUT UP! THEY LOVED ME! THEY SACRIFICED THEMSELVES SO THAT I CAN LIVE! STOP TALKING ABOUT THEM! JUST SHUT UP!"

Sasuke allowed the fist to hit him. He remembered when he lost his family; he was so, so lost as to what he should do. People just gave him sympathy and false, empty words. So he blamed the only man he could think of, he became bitter and withdrawn from the world around him and focused only on destroying the one who had so thouroughly destroyed him. He knew it was not the right path, but he had no one to direct him towards the light. No one knew what he was going through. And so maybe, just maybe, he could do for Naruto what no one could do for him.

As his fist hit Sasuke's face, Naruto seemed to lose what little strength he had and collapsed forward. Multiple arms shot out to grab him and he clung to the closest pair: Shizune. Muscles shaking, he couldn't form a coherent thought until a gentle hand patted him on his shoulder.

"Then live for them. Mourn for them, but do not wallow. It is ok for you to live, it's what they wanted, it's why they did what they did," Sasuke whispered. As those simple words destroyed the dam that was holding them in, Naruto cried, allowing his pent up sadness to rain down his cheeks in waterfalls of tears. Clutching at Shizune who tried to offer as much comfort as she could, he cried his loss to the world.

.*.*.

"I'm gonna kill you. Slice you up into little pieces, roast them, and then feed them to Jiraiya's frogs."

"Hey, they wouldn't eat that! Feed them to the Guardians as a sacrifice or something!"

A boom of thunder dissuaded that idea.

"Fine, find some other ravage, carnivorous animal, kill them because they have your body pieces in it and then tie a rock to its carcase and throw it into the deepest river I can find."

"Wait... you were gonna do what with my frogs?"

"It's not your frogs anymore."

"What about the Guardians?"

"I'm sure being inside living fire would be better than forever at the bottom of a river so my plan wouldn't have gone that far."

"... Haku you can be scary."

Sasuke's pale face went paler and the gentle looking boy was casually discussing whether his body pieces would suffer more at the bottom of a river with its high pressure and raging rapids, or inside a Guardians stomach being constantly burned for all eternity. Thankfully, the murderous looking one covered in bandages was the one to stand up for him. Sasuke felt too thankful to point out the irony.

"Don't kill the brat, he saved _our_ brat no matter how stupid the means," he glared at Sasuke who paled even further. He was starting to resemble a blank scroll. "For that he can live... for the moment."

"Fine, he can live. He doesn't need his arms to live right?"

They had made camp in the clearing Sasuke had been brought to. The sun had begun to set throwing a cadence of oranges, yellows, pinks, reds and purples against the sky that broke through the canopy of the trees, and settled on the group of ninja, giving them the last warmth it had to offer before the moon rose and gave them its soft light.

Naruto had fallen asleep once his tears had run dry and his wails had turned to soft sobs. The woman, Shizune had placed him in a sleeping bag and was staying with him through his slumber, in case of nightmares. Sasuke had forewarned them it was a high possibility. The Guardians, still running on the power given to them when Kyuubi was healed, took up guard around the campsite, allowing everyone else to retire, although none of them felt like sleeping just yet.

Kiba and Akamaru, sat with their backs against a tree opposite Naruto's tent, eyes trained on the entrance. It seems as if they would be acting as watchmen tonight too, whether they were expected to or not. Kiba had the suspicion they had been forgotten, but that was fine with him. It meant he would be able to watch the blonde with little interruption for meaningless things, like questions.

Jiraiya, Haku and Zabuza however, were enjoying their game with Sasuke. They were a ways from Naruto's tent, so their conversation wouldn't wake him; but still close enough should anything happen. They could just see the wall of the Leaf village through the dense tree tops, and they didn't want to chance being stumbled upon by a patrol unprepared.

"What ninja has lived past twenty with no arms?" Jiraiya asked.

"That's the point," Haku said smugly. Feeling it was time for a tactical retreat, Uchiha's never ran away, Sasuke moved and sat under a large tree at the edge of the clearing. He could see the opening of Naruto's tent and if his suspicions were correct, this was the place he needed to be.

...

"Teams one and two will be the training grounds; Search teams' three to six will be responsible for the east district as well as market places. Seven to nine will be business areas as well as the Hokage Monument and teams ten to thirteen will be the perimeter as well as forests surrounding our immediate area. Any ques-"

"What is the meaning of this?" The Third Hokage demanded, walking in on the group of Anbu that were being debriefed by Danzo. The councillor Homura was the one to answer.

"The demon has escaped, and with him has captured the heir to the Inuzuka clan. Also reports indicate the missing Nin Zabuza Momochi was seen with them as well as the Sannin Jiraiya and apprentice to Tsunade, Shizune. Our conclusion is that the demon and Momochi have teamed up and captured the three so we are sending out teams to search and capture them back. We cannot allow the demon to fall into another village's hands, no matter how unsightly it is."

The Sandaime just stood there, mouth agape like a fish out of water.

"You conclusion? You think a gennin and a missing jounin level ninja can take down Jiraiya AND Shizune? Also whilst taking a gennin as if they didn't have their hands full already? You should be sending out scouts and information gathering teams not retrieval and assassination squads!" spluttered the Third. Danzo looked over the man with barely concealed disgust. In his youth had he said that, it would have rung with authority and every shinobi within hearing distance would have stood to attention, now, he had just gotten soft. Too easy to manipulate and barely a challenge against him.

"Sandaime, this matter does not require the attention of the Hokage; we are merely upping out border patrols in case the missing Nin decides to return." He said smoothly. The Third looked at them suspiciously. He knew they were after Naruto, but what could he do? Danzo had control of nearly everyone in this room. Growling slightly he turned on his heel and left, pretending to not feel the smirk of the man behind him. He knew he was getting weaker and he needed to name an heir, but who still held the Will of Fire within them bright enough to lead this village? He needed to get his political power back and save this village if he is ever going to face his predecessors in the next life.

...

Naruto awoke with a silent scream. Sweat was pouring off him in buckets and his body trembled ever so slightly. Next to him he could hear Shizune breathing lightly. Years of waking with nightmares had allowed him to not wake those who slept near him. These were his demons to fight; he would not wake Shizune-nee-chan with his problems.

Carefully and silently, he left the tent, making sure to scan his surroundings first. The leaf gennin that was at the hospital room was asleep at the base of a tree opposite his tent, his puppy lying across his lap. Near the ninja, close enough to give him warmth but not so close as to burn him was the Guardian of Fire. The fox sat proudly, his eyes alert for any danger. The moment Naruto had wakened the foxes gaze had been zeroed in on his tent. Smiling at ember softly the blonde continued to examine his camp. Other tents had been set up and he could sense the beings asleep within them. They obviously knew they would be safe from harm if the Guardians were on watch, but he could still sense that if any noise went louder than a whisper, all would awaken. Employing his years of practicing the ninja art of silent walking, Naruto left the clearing in the direction he heard rushing water. He needed to wash the sweat off his face.

Concealed from his senses and sight, a pair of onyx eyes watched him leave towards the river. Sasuke knew this would happen, with what he had learned from the jinchuuriki's past, he was used to waking up with nightmares, and he did it himself about twice a week. This way he would be able to watch the blonde and converse with him without the presence of the adults. The... scary... skilled killers that were Naruto's caretakers. Covering his tracks as best he could, Sasuke followed after the blonde, nodding to Ember as he past the fire fox. The powerful entity looked at him and tilted its head in acknowledgment. Ember knew what the boy had planned; this would be good for both their souls.


	24. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

For my little brother who is now completely sucked into my stories and fanfiction :D and his little friends too mwahahahahaha

love you brother dearest

…

Naruto splashed the icy cold water on his face. Crouching by the river bank, he wiped the sweat from his skin. He curled his toes, feeling the soft grass under his feet. A slight breeze swayed the overhanging trees behind him, obscuring the already hard-to-find path that led back to the camp. He wanted time alone. He needed to think about things. Where he was going to go, and what he was going to do now. Letting the water drip off his face freely, he stared at the moon's reflection on the glassy surface of the river. His gaze unfocused as his thoughts got deeper.

He understood what the Uchiha boy said, even though the punch was kinda overkill. His jaw still throbbed slightly from the hit. But it had gotten his attention. It wasn't his fault. He had to be strong for them. But that still didn't take away the bitter taste of loss. Inside, his soul wept for his mother and friend. They were the only things consistent in his life, and now they were gone. There was Jiraiya and Shizune, but they had their own lives and responsibilities to take care of. They couldn't drop everything and take care of him. Not that he needed taking care of. And what about the mission? Should he continue? Naruto snorted. Most likely the old bats on the council had already put out a bounty on him. He was probably being updated in every Bingo book in every village!

But… just because the Leaf leaders were idiots, doesn't mean every other village and civilian should suffer the effects of him not completing his mission. But… he couldn't do it without Kyuubi. The recent loss still burned him like a thousand suns. He was so… so lost without him. They knew everything about each other and losing the support of him was something he never thought he would face. Heck, Naruto even knew Kyuubi's real name! But what could he do? How could he bring back the lord of all biiju? When he put Kyuubi's spirit in the little fox, Kyuubi helped him and lent him his power. Now… he could hardly feel the presence of his furry companion.

And Tsunade… Agony tore its way through his heart. The mark was still on his forehead. The purple lines had receded, but the diamond remained. Staring at his reflection in the smooth river surface, the Yin seal sat proudly on his brow. One of the greatest Uzumaki secrets that no other clan or village knew. The Uzumaki's in their vast knowledge had made a seal that accelerated the body's healing process, slowing the aging process and speeding up regenerative prowess. Storing chakra subconsciously so that when released, nothing short of decapitation will kill the bearer of the seal. It was the creation of such seals and jutsu that the Uzumaki clan was destroyed, the hidden village where they governed along with them.

He had a powerful seal that only his clan knows, and it cost him his mother. Disgust and self-loathing welled up inside him and overpowered the agony of loss. He was just like the village counsel. They were selfish, power hungry and would sacrifice anything to get ahead. Naruto was just like them. How would his ancestors feel to know that the heir to the great and powerful…

Wait. Naruto stopped breathing as the idea came to him. Slowly at first and then it blossomed, as if it was waiting for him to realize it before exploding with the information he so desperately wanted. He would have meditate to get exact details, something he dreaded to now that Kyuubi was gone. What was his mindscape going to look like with the gigantic fox? He ignored the dread and instead took hold of the other feeling that was making its way through him.

Hope burned fiercely in him and Naruto clutched to it as if it were a piece of driftwood and him a drowning man. Feeling invigorated and renewed with purpose, Naruto shook his hair free from the last cold drops of water. It was then he realised he was being watched. He tensed his muscles, alert for any attack; he nearly staggered in surprise though, when it was the Uchiha boy who emerged from the shadow of the trees.

…

Sasuke had been watching the blonde boy, Naruto, as he dealt with his inner demons. He knew no words would comfort him, no sentence would console him. It was a battle one must fight alone, one he had lost. No matter what time of day, the hunger for revenge burned deep in him, a constant source of strength and hatred. He will avenge his clan. He will kill that man.

But watching the boy… watching him go through almost exactly what he had gone through. It shook him. The words he had told him when he wept for his loss, he sounded so sure of himself when he said them. In reality, he had no idea if they would work. They were the words he wished someone would have told him, but there had been no one. So the only thing that will make the sour, burning feeling go away is to kill his brother. After that, he can re build his clan to its former glory. What he would do after that, he didn't know, he didn't care. He just wanted the hatred and sadness to go away.

But the blonde child, the words he had spoken had helped him somehow. He looked sure of himself and there was no dark look hidden in his eyes. That dark shine that Sasuke saw every morning in the mirror. That haunted, sullen look that reminded him of his traumatic past, which helped him strive forward. But revenge, it would remove the pain, moving forward would mean forgetting, and he could never allow himself to forget… could he?

"Thank you."

The voice broke through Sasuke's inner battle. He looked up. Eyes widened in surprise. Naruto had stood up from crouching by the riverside and was now looking at him. Sparkling blue eyes stared at him, seeming to gaze through him. The Uchiha boy now took in the purple diamond on the blond boy's head that wasn't there before. Must be some side effect of having two beings sealed inside of you. As they regarded each other it was then that Sasuke registered the words he had spoken.

"You're welcome." He replied, with all the graciousness that came from being born to a noble family. He even inclined his head slightly. Naruto looked stunned, before he snorted with laughter. Sasuke looked at him incredulously as the blonde dissolved into a fit of giggles. Seconds ago the boy had been as solemn as a widow at a funeral and now… now he was collapsing with mirth. And he had the sneaking suspicion that his laughter was directed at him.

"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke demanded; his face as impassive as ever. Eyes glaring at the boy whose clothes were getting filthier by the minute from rolling around on the river bank.

"Your… hair…" he managed to gasp out. Sasuke frowned. What was wrong with his hair?

"It… looks… like a … ducks butt! And when… you nodded… all regal and… high class… it bobbed… and…" He couldn't speak anymore, laughter erupting from him, rendering speech impossible. Sasuke's eyes flamed.

"You dare insult me?" he demanded. Sasuke stared at the whelp that dared laugh at him. Him, Sasuke Uchiha. Then realized, it was a reach for help. The laughter had a slight hysterical and desperate quality to it. He needed someone to laugh with, to help overcome the sadness. He shivered in disgust at what he was about to do, but it had to be done.

"My hair is the hair of champions!" He declared. Puffing up his chest and holding his nose high in the air. "Females fawn over my very image as I walk by, do not disrespect the power of the hair! The Gods themselves would be jealous of these lustrous locks of mine! You dare laugh at the hair of the Uchiha? You will suffer the wrath of the one you call so shamelessly 'duck butt'!" He pointed his finger at the blonde with all the power of fate behind him. Naruto just stared.

And stared

He couldn't help it, he burst. Laughter exploded out of him, he clutched his sides they hurt so much, and he could barely breathe. Tears ran down his face, this time in mirth. He hadn't laughed this hard since he was with Kyuubi…

Almost instantly the laughter left him as he remembered his lost family. Sasuke frowned at him. _Stupid idiot thinking about that._ Marching with all the dignity he could muster after that heinous display of tomfoolery, he kicked the blonde… into the river.

Naruto felt a force hit his side. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts he didn't react until the ice cold water of the river engulfed him. He splashed in the water for a moment before figuring out which way was up and he surged to the surface. Spluttering, he pulled himself up from the river and levelled a glare at the raven haired boy who was standing there casually, not a care in the world, as if he didn't just kick the boy into a freezing cold river. Sasuke smirked at the glare. It had nothing on an Uchiha's. They were famous for their glares.

"I warned you you would suffer the wrath of the Uchiha." He said as if discussing the weather. Naruto looked confused before he grinned. That's how it was going to be, huh? This guy had no idea what he was getting into. Naruto was prank king. This little upstart was gonna get a shock in the morning. Sasuke turned to leave the riverside, he had accomplished what he set out to do, mind you, and it didn't end up how he pictured it. He thought he was going to have to have a long conversation about, god forbid, feelings and emotions. He agreed that they both had problems and talking about them would probably help, and most likely some deep subconscious part of him wanted to talk about it, but that was very, very deep. He hated talking about feelings. The only thought in his mind when he heard the word feelings was fangirls, and seriously, he had enough of those to last ten lifetimes.

Now was the time to accept, then they would share… maybe.

Naruto watched the raven leave, and despite only a few words being uttered between them, a new sense of comrade seemed to exist. He had another friend, someone who would help him. He shook his hair free of water for the second time that night and smiled. It wasn't his usual smile, it was only small and had a sadness to it that pierced your soul, but it was a start. Maybe, he would smile again, soon if his plan worked, but for now, it was better than the tears.

…

Kiba had watched the two gennin leave the clearing. He made no move to follow. His head was still spinning with all that he had learned. When Jiraiya had told Sasuke the story, he was fairly certain him and Akamaru had been forgotten. So they just listened.

And were horrified.

What kinds of people do that to a child? He was ashamed to be a part of a village that would torture a child for their own petty amusement and closure. Is that the kind of people, the village he was going to fight for? He would have given his life to protect the village. His clan, the Third, his friends, he would have died to save them all. But why didn't the adults tell them anything? Naruto was the Fourth's freaking son! He should be nobility! That was why he was in the noble's district when he first met him. Well not really met, more like stalked then ran.

And he never hurt anyone. With all the power he held, he should have flattened the village the first chance he got. Instead, he beat up an abuser of children and gave up his life to save his friend. Why would anyone want to hurt him?

So what if the Kyuubi was sealed within him? From what he's learned, he was the guard and the fox the prisoner, not the possessed demon the village made him out to be. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. He had to know the truth. He had to know his family wasn't involved, his friends family's weren't involved, the Third…

The Third was the one who taught them the importance of friends and allies. Who shone with the brightest Flame. He was the Leaf Village's leader. His Will of Fire was there to protect every citizen and shinobi within the walls of their home. How could he allow this to happen?

He had to know.

When he judged the gennin pair had left and no one else was going to wake, he stood up silently and left the clearing. When the trees engulfed his and Akamaru's forms, he broke into a run. Branches whipped at his face as he leapt into the trees, scratching him and snagging on his clothes, as if trying to hold him back. The branches got thicker and his path more difficult as he made his way towards the Leaf village's gate, but he persisted. Running with all his speed and fighting the forest with all his strength. Just as he was about to break from the cover of the forest to the main road, a vine caught him around his waist and hauled him back.

Terra stared at him, jewelled eyes sparkling under the moon's soft light. The vine was his. It continued to snake around his waist, holding him in a firm grip. Kiba didn't even bother to fight. How could he win against the creator of all earth jutsu? His beast mimicry was based from the element. Another vine slithered its way to touch him lightly on the forehead.

_Why do you run young wolf pup?_

The voice wasn't condemning or angry, merely curious. Though the Inuzuka knew if he were to ever wish harm against the blonde, the tranquil spirit wouldn't hesitate in destroying him. He was out of breath from his run, so he just thought his answer.

_I have to know_. And with that sentence, the Guardian of Earth and Wood was assaulted with the emotions and thoughts that had been swirling within Kiba's mind since the tale of Naruto's life. The anger, betrayal, confusion, fear, but the foremost was the loyalty to their kit. Naruto was his Alpha, and he was a part of his pack. The fox had an idea.

_Wolf cub, listen to me. _Kiba looked into those hypnotizing eyes.

_I am the very essence of the earth. Every time a human uses a jutsu, they use some of my power. I am millennia old and as such do not care or take heed of petty human wars. But now the master of my master is threatened, and I do not take well when mine own are threatened. Listen to me. Should you choose to accept the mission I am about to tell you, you shall receive my blessing, but you will never be able to return to the life you once knew. Do you accept?_

As he listened to the spirit warn him that he will never be able to return to village he knew, he also heard the outline of the fox's plan. Grim determination filling him, he accepted.


	25. Chapter 24

I know it's not much guys, but I wanted to at least give you something just to know that this story has not been abandoned ^^

Chapter 24

Sarutobi's head ached. It had been a while since he had to do so much reconnaissance. And the information he gathered had left him weary. Very few of the shinobi in active duty were loyal to the leaf. ANBU was lost to him. Maybe a dozen ninja in the corps were left who weren't under Danzo's influence. The younger generation were left unaware of the silent power struggle. The old man sighed. May as well be honest with himself; there wasn't even a struggle. Peace had made him complacent, and not willing to face a war, even a civil one, he had ignored all the signs. He had bowed before Danzo as a sapling bows before the wind. He was ashamed of himself. What would the other Hokage say if they saw the state of the Leaf now?

Danzo. The man had changed dramatically from when they were gennin together. Sarutobi remembered a hot headed youth, who was dedicated in trying to outdo him. But one thing was for certain, he loved the Leaf. And yet, here he was destroying everything they had built. When had he changed?

His best chance lay with the jounin. The ones that had been trained when he was still a teacher. He would have to use them from now on. He planned to regain his pride as the Third. He will claim back his village. He would have to be careful, the small amount of activity the information gathering he had just done had already drawn attention to him. He may have gone lax in his politics, but living in a military village, ones skills rarely got rusty. The Third Hokage focused his senses. From the skill they had at hiding their presence, they were ANBU. Seals designed to be triggered when an excess of a certain amount of weight were applied to them were hidden in every tile of the roofing of the Hokage tower. Minato was nothing if thorough when he upgraded the security on the tower. Too many good ninja were assassinated in their very homes as being in a familiar place has a nasty habit of making one lower their guard.

Sarutobi stretched. It had been a while since he'd seen his son, time to pay him a visit.

…

The clearing was bare except for a young girl. Her long brown hair flowed down her back and her bangs were held off her face by a clip with two circles. Her clear brown eyes kept an unwavering gaze towards the east. A slight breeze ruffled her pink kimono, cooling her from the warm day, and still her eyes did not move from the gap in the trees.

From that direction, the sound of footstep could be heard. Her excellent hearing told her it was a group of six people. From the way their feet fell, they were not in the happiest of spirits. Anticipation coiled in her stomach. Not many people came this deep into the forest. It was known as the hunting grounds of the Elder Foxes, anyone who ventured here, never returned. Yet the footsteps grew closer still.

And how did they get this far? Foxes are extremely territorial; any stranger who trespasses on their land is dealt with mercilessly. And now six people were moving closer, the dragging footsteps could be because they were injured, but her gut told her it wasn't that. She should have listened to her mother, she shouldn't have left the manor.

As regrets whirled within her head, the group of people came into view. Two were children her age, three were adults and one was slightly older than the children. One of the adults, a women, held a pig in her arms. Other details were lost as she focused on the boy approaching her. A purple diamond shone from his brow and intricate designs were painted over his face. His bright blue eyes were dull, but a small spark shone deep within them. On his back a body length sword was strapped, resting with the sense of comfort that only someone who knows how to use it could possess. His clothing was black but dirtied with travel, his bright blonde hair a beacon amongst the dark colours.

The boy stopped a few feet away from her. They regarded each other with faces that gave nothing away. The breeze that had cooled her died down and everything was still. Her hand twitched towards her kunai holster.

The boy saw the movement and a large smile broke out across his face. The girl took a step back. The smile was horrible. It was full of despair and agony. His eyes remained that dull blue, as if his soul had left his body. This was a broken boy, who was trying to cover up his damage with a smile.

"Hi. Would you happen to be Yakumo?" The bright tone was forced, and it wasn't lost on her. Or on the boy's companions, from the way they frowned and clenched their fists.

"I am." She said nervously. She berated herself within her mind. She got distracted by the boy and had forgotten about her situation. She was alone, away from her manor, with six unknown ninja. She was outnumbered.

The boy smiled more, she repressed a shiver. "I'm friends with Uroko, your mother. Could you take us to her?"

That shocked Yakumo. This boy knew mother? Was it the truth? Maybe he was lying to get her to lead him to the manor so he could attack her clan? She had been told from birth that they were a special clan with a powerful kekkai genkai. One which she had inherited. She would not be the downfall of her clan.

"What do you want with mother?" Yakumo asked, braver than she felt. She would stop these people if they planned to hurt her family. Subtly she gathered her chakra. The boy's smile faded and with the most serious tone she had ever heard, told her his purpose.

"I need the aid of the Kurama clan."

…

Sasuke watched the blonde boy silently as they walked towards what he assumed to be the home of the Kurama clan. Naruto had told them of his plan to go to this clan and ask for help. He had no idea why this clan was so important, only that it was in the centre of the forest where the Elder Foxes were rumoured to live. He also had no idea of why he was following the group. He should have returned to the village the second he was able. He had no time to go gallivanting off into the unknown, he needed to train, he needed to defeat _him._

Wait.

Defeat him? When had it become defeat? He needed to kill him. Slaughter the man who mercilessly slaughtered his family. He shouldn't be thinking of defeat, only destroy. He stopped his silent observation of the blonde enigma and turned his attention inward. He examined his feelings. The desire to get revenge was still there, and it still burned just as strongly as it had before, but next to it, there was a new feeling. It was warm, not as consuming as the fire of his vengeance was, but was nearly as strong. And it was linked to Naruto.

He looked closer at the feeling and it filled him. He had only ever experienced this feeling once before, and that was years ago when he was a child. It was the feeling he got when he was with his brother. Was this friendship? He had never experienced friendship before, he had people who counted him as a friend, but he had never considered them as friends. His wounded soul closing up to everyone around him, never letting anyone close. And yet, here was this boy who he had known less than a week who he considered a friend.

He remembered when he had this thought before, and he almost rejected it as violently as he did back then, but stopped. He had learned so much about Naruto, so much which made him so similar to himself. Both their tortured pasts, and how they were still suffering. The feeling was so warm. He liked it, he decided. It didn't burn him like his vengeance did, but filled him up. He would almost say he was happy.

Except every time he looked at Naruto's face, he felt happiness wither and die. A smile was plastered there as if painted on. His tan skin was a sickly pale and dark circled hung under his dull blue eyes. He was acting strong for those around him, but on the inside, he was a broken wreck. He knew a week wasn't long enough to get over the loss he had suffered, but he had hoped. Sasuke sighed. Looks like he would be following his new friend and helping him until he had gotten his family back. He knew this would be a giant step back in his plan for revenge, but somehow, he didn't care. He didn't mind.

He would do it for his friend.

A low growling made him stop. The rest of the group did as well. The sound came from all around them. They were surrounded. Sasuke stretched his senses but could not feel the presence of the creatures that were making the noise.

"Don't bother brat." Zabuza said gruffly, his hand resting on the enormous sword. Sasuke looked at the bandaged man. "Even I can't sense them, no point in wasting energy. Prepare yourself." The Uchiha nodded, pulled out a kunai and got into a defensive stance. He didn't notice, but he placed more weight onto his back leg, ready to sprint to Naruto's side should he need help. He didn't notice but Zabuza did. He nodded in approval.

The group tensed as the owners of the growls came into view. Foxes. Dozens of them, each with a blood red coat. Their hackles were raised and their teeth bore menacingly. Naruto felt something pull painfully in his chest. Each of these foxes had more than one tail. The resemblance to Kyuubi was obvious and it made him feel his loss more keenly.

"Who dares trespass in our forest?" A female voice demanded. A woman appeared behind the many foxes. Her hair was styled similar to Yakumo, but her outfit was one of a Leaf jounin. Her clear brown eyes gazed intently at the group before widening in surprise as she recognized most of them.

"Hey Uroko," Naruto smiled weakly, lowering his kunai.

"Naruto! What are you doing here? The entire village has been put on alert and the Hokage is looking for you! Wait, never mind. Come, you can tell me what's been going on at the manor." When the foxes realized that the woman knew the intruders, they melted back into the foliage. Even though they couldn't been seen, the force of their gaze still weighed heavily on their shoulders.

…

He needed a plan. The entire village was in chaos. Thirteen squads of ANBU had been deployed to look for Naruto. Usually no one knew what the ANBU were up too, but when this many were deployed at once, for the same mission, word gets around quite quickly. Especially when they start making their moves public.

Kiba grabbed a flyer. They had been raining down from the sky by the messenger birds since dawn. What he read shocked him. The face of Naruto glared up at him, wanted by the advisors for kidnapping the heir to the Inuzuka and Uchiha clans, injuring many ANBU as well as being the incarnation of the Kyuubi.

Kiba sat down heavily. He looked over the village from the head of the Third Hokage. The monument was abandoned; the entire village was in uproar and desperately searching for Naruto. _Shit. _This made things so much more difficult. He scratched his stomach absently, the seal itched. He would start with Shikamaru and Chouji. They were the people he knew best, having spent a lot of time in detention with them. Then he would try his new team. Hinata was shy, but she was good. He knew that from her offering to help him with his training. It's why he was so good at being able to sense things. Shino he didn't know, the guy was quiet, but he didn't seem bad.

But first he needed a plan. He couldn't just walk into the centre of the village and find his friends; ANBU would jump him the second he set foot within the gates. And he had no doubt in his mind they would do whatever it took to get information out of him. He didn't know the advisors, but he knew of them and the stories he had heard gave him chills. Especially that Danzo character. He was known as the War Hawk. The things he did to claim that title were bloody and merciless.

Akamaru whined and Kiba smiled down at him. Perfect, Akamaru wouldn't get accosted by ANBU. Nobody would notice a dog wondering around the village. He set his puppy on the ground.

"I need you to bring Shikamaru and Chouji here."

The puppy yipped in acknowledgement and ran off. Kiba made himself comfy and waited for his friends, idly scratching his stomach again.

…


	26. Chapter 25

Shikamaru Nara sighed. He was lying on the patio of his house. Why did everything have to get so difficult? Having Ino on his new gennin team was reason for headache enough, but he was also confined to his house per his father's instructions. Something was going on in the village, and his dad wanted him out of it. It didn't take much to put the pieces together. They were after the new kid. The one that appeared on the day of the academy exam and totally kicked its butt.

A frown appeared on his brow as he applied more energy to thinking about the boy and assessed the facts he knew about the blonde enigma. He had nothing to do anyway, may as well think about something interesting. First, he showed up with the Hokage's recommendation, which means he was close to someone higher up, maybe even the Hokage himself. Second, he had a tamed Elder Fox. And a pretty powerful one at that. He never counted the tails of the creature, as they were constantly flowing and twirling about each other, each time he had tried, his mind got foggy and he forgot about it.

Shikamaru sat up. He thought back to the first time he tried counting the tails. He was sure everyone else was doing the same thing to, especially since Akamaru had drawn attention to the fox with its fight for dominance. He was sure that the fox had looked everyone over before focusing on the dog. Then his mind went foggy and he focused on the animal turf war.

Those were the classic signs of one being under a genjutsu. It couldn't have been the boy as it seemed like he was actually talking to the fox. As if it was an intelligent creature, which would go along with the heirs of the Kyuubi… the Kyuubi… the…

Holy shit.

Dozens of little facts in his head clicked together the instant that one thought dashed across his consciousness. It fit, it all fit. The genjutsu, the many tails, the glares from the adults, the prejudice against the boy, the reason why his father was constantly being called into council meetings… The fox was the freaking _Kyuubi. _But how was it alive? And how was that boy able to control it? And why wasn't the demon trying to eat everyone alive?

He knew the tale. Fourth Hokage stopped the Kyuubi, killing it. He also knew that Kakashi, the copy-cat ninja, was famous for not only having the Sharingan, but for killing the Kyuubi who had taken the form of a small boy about ten years ago. But if the Fourth had killed it thirteen years ago, then how could Kakashi three years later?

Why had he never questioned this information before? Its flaw was so obvious, so glaring, but he never did. The Fourth is a legend, Kakashi a hero. He took everything at face value and went along with what he was told, just like everyone else. He went along with the story just like a pawn on a shogi board. He didn't like it. Ignoring the bitter taste in his mouth, he went back to the facts.

All of this meant the Fourth didn't kill the Kyuubi, but somehow got rid of it and then Kakashi killed it later. But he didn't either. And the end result of these events was the new kid Naruto. The only logical thing he could think of, short of reincarnation and some kind of resurrection technique, was a sealing jutsu the Fourth used on the Kyuubi and Naruto. But the kid looked no older than he was which meant he was an infant at the time of sealing. From the small amount of knowledge he had on fuuinjutsu, he knew that seals could be made out of anything as long as whatever was used to hold the seal was stronger than whatever was being sealed. Chakra infused paper was most commonly used for inanimate objects, like shuriken and kunai, as inanimate objects don't have chakra and so, the paper is stronger. But for something like the Kyuubi? No amount of paper would be enough. Plus the chakra to go into such a seal, and to capture the Kyuubi itself... that meant…

Naruto was the seal. They used an infant to seal the Kyuubi. The Fourth Hokage used his entire life force to create the seal and place the demon fox inside the child. Shikamaru was struck dumb by this revelation. For the first time in his life, there was no thought drifting through his skull, there was just stunned disbelief. Even when he was cloud gazing, there were usually a couple of dozen thoughts running through his mind, but now, at this moment. He couldn't for a thought to save his life. It fit all the facts he knew. It was so perfect the way that everything came together. But something kept bugging him.

The Fourth Hokage was an honourable man, one who was kind and honest and put everyone before himself. He had heard his parents and his dad's old squad always talk admirably of the man who once ruled them. Every story they ever told of the Yellow Flash, every legend he had ever heard about their deceased Hokage spoke of how self-sacrificing he was; staying behind on missions to let his team escape, single handily ending an entire war without casualties to their side. This was not the type of man who would take some random child and seal a nightmare into him. This was not a man who could put someone else's child through that kind of torture. And this could only mean one thing.

Naruto was related somehow to the Fourth Hokage. Shikamaru broke out into a cold sweat. He couldn't stop his mind from thinking; his thoughts were putting together the facts without him putting any effort into it. He couldn't stop his head from turning just slightly, not much, but enough that his gaze now fell on the Hokage monument. Where the faces of all the previous Hokage were forever immortalized for the entire village to see…. Naruto looked exactly like the Fourth. The stone face may only be one colour, but he could see the bright blonde hair and blue eyes. Naruto's face was slightly rounder than the deceased Yellow Flash, but that was probably due to youth. Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage.

And the recommendation from the Hokage… The Third, he knew exactly who and what Naruto was.

Shikamaru thought about all the scrolls his father had made him read in his training to be the sixteenth generation Nara clan head. His intelligence had prompted his training to start earlier than normal, at the young age of six when he started the academy, instead of the usual thirteen when he became a gennin. The First Hokage and his battle with Madara Uchiha; how he had summoned the Kyuubi and the First killed the Uchiha and defeated the tailed beast. This meant it had to go somewhere, and that somewhere was in the village. But if the Leaf had something as powerful as the Kyuubi in its possession, what did the other villages have to balance the power? They wouldn't just sit idly by whilst a rival village had something like that. And if the fox was under the Leaf's control, why were there still skirmishes with other villages? And where was it kept before it was eventually sealed into Naruto?

So many questions needed answering and no matter how much Shikamaru tried to shrug it off, it kept coming back to bother him. Like his mother nagging at him to wake up on a morning, it just wouldn't go away. He tried to shrug it off as speculation, he had no proof, and he had no evidence of what he suspected. There was no reason to believe that the fox, Fang, was the Kyuubi, or that Naruto was its seal as well as being the son of the Fourth. He had no plausible excuse to go looking into it. But it all just fit so perfectly… It was then, whilst he was battling with his thoughts, that Akamaru found Shikamaru.

…

Danzo dismissed the ANBU in front of him. The brat had escaped. He didn't know where and he didn't know how but the jinchuuriki was no longer in the Hidden Leaf. It galled him that a thirteen year old boy had managed to escape when he had his entire Root force after him.

From the information his subordinates had gathered, he had help. Jiraiya the interfering whelp, had shown up with the Senju princess in tow. As if that wasn't infuriating enough, they had the demon of the Hidden Mist with them and an unknown ANBU. That was a very elite squad. Two Sannin, and S-rank ninja and an ANBU. You could change countries with that kind of team. And now they had their hands on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, as well as the Uchiha heir and an Inuzuka. The potential in that one small group… the possibilities were endless.

And the Kyuubi jinchuuriki wasn't just a powered-up container. Oh-no, he had to be the descendant of The Uzumaki clan, along as the son of the Fourth Hokage. Namikaze, Uzumaki, Uchiha and Senju all in one place. And his own clan, Shimura, and you have the founding clans of the Leaf village.

Danzo rubbed his forehead; he could feel a headache coming on. He had worked tirelessly for the past thirteen years, trying to bring the Leaf to its rightful place as the greatest of all ninja villages. He had done heinous acts, all to protect his beloved home. And now some brat and his team were going to ruin it. He needed the jinchuuriki, it was a valuable weapon. He needed to control it, especially since he had reports that Kumo's Hachibi jinchuuriki had complete control over his bijuu.

"_I suppose that's what you get when the brother of the Raikage is the sacrifice," _Danzo mused. If that was the case, then the _son _of the Hokage would be just as skilled. The Leaf had never had control of the Kyuubi. It was always too powerful, too hateful to be able to control fully. Tapping into its monstrous chakra reserves seemed to be the only positive to containing it. And the fear leverage it gave the Leaf over the other villages.

Plus the boy seemed to have formed some sort of relationship with the beast, if the incident at the veterinary hospital is anything to go by. A corporal body whilst still being sealed? That kind of jutsu, that kind of technique required an intimate knowledge of the seal, as well as a mastery of fuuinjutsu. Not to mention large amounts of chakra and a vast knowledge of medical ninjutsu. That was probably where Tsunade and Jiraiya came in. Now he just needed to know where they were.

If he could get his hands on that boy, he would be able to control the greatest power the Elemental Nations has ever seen. If he could also get the Uchiha… he may even be able to unlock the secrets behind the Sharingan, or even…. The Rinnegan.

He could see it now, standing above the village, the previous Hokage heads destroyed, only to be replaced by his glorious image. His arm full of Sharingan that never lose their light. His eyes: the endless rings of the Rinnegan. And at his feet, tamed and controlled only by him, the Kyuubi, in all its destructive magnificence. The Leaf would prosper. There would be peace, for any who threatened to hurt the village, he would mercilessly crush. There would be no alliances, no pacts or terms of agreements, there would be only the Leaf.

Danzo allowed himself a satisfied smile as his dream filled his vision. It was so close, almost within reach. All he had to do was get that jinchuuriki and the rest would just fall into place.

…

Kakashi paced the Hokage's office. The leader of the Hidden Leaf village was currently absent, going to visit his family or something, he didn't care. What he did care about was what Danzo had just told him. The Kyuubi had escaped. The murderer of his beloved sensei had gotten away, along with Naruto, Sasuke and the Inuzuka kid.

He was mentally torturing himself. He had failed his comrades. He couldn't save Obito, he killed Rin, he let his sensei die and now he couldn't even save his sensei's son from the demon that had taken the last of his loved ones away. He was worse than scum. He should probably kill himself before anyone else dies because of him.

His thoughts of suicide were broken when Danzo got his attention by clearing his throat. Kakashi had completely forgotten the old shinobi was in the room. Not alone either. The honoured elders were there as well, all watching him as he paced a hole in the floor.

"Hatake Kakashi, your skills are required by the Leaf village to hunt down the jinchuuriki and capture it. You may assemble a team of your choosing as the target is now known to have strong allies. A squad of my best ANBU will back up your group. Do you have any questions?"

Kakashi looked incredulous. "Capture? What do you mean capture? We need to kill the demon and save Naruto!"

"The beast is sealed within the boy. We need the power of the Nine tails in our arsenal. It would be a great asset to the village."

Kakashi just gaped. These were the same people who had hinted at him thirteen years ago to kill the boy. The same people who had convinced him that the only way to save Naruto was to kill him. That the boy was dead and only the monster lived in the human shell. Why would they want it in the village?

"But if we get it in the village it could run wild!"

"Don't be silly Kakashi, the boy has complete control over the fox from the reports we've gathered. Also his seal was always much too complex for the fox to take over" Koharu said scathingly. _Really, how could someone be so stupid_? She thought viciously.

Kakashi felt as if the floor had fallen from beneath him. The fox had never taken over Naruto's body? But if that was the case then he… he almost…

Nausea overwhelmed him. He had shoved a Chidori through a three year old. Not just any three year old, his sensei's son. Not just any sensei, the Fourth Hokage. He had lived with the fact that he had killed the body of Minato's boy, had it haunt him for ten years, but the fact he had destroyed the killer of his mentor had comforted him. And when he saw that face a mere few days ago, the guilt was almost erased. The boy was alive, and in the Leaf. If he was really the fox then he would have instantly killed him or started a rampage through the village, which meant that Naruto was alive, he had a second chance at protecting him.

And now… now he had discovered that the Kyuubi was alive, and they wanted him to get it and bring it back to them, alive. Which meant it was once again possessing Naruto. But that wasn't right. Koharu just told him that the fox never had the chance to take over Naruto's consciousness let alone body, the seal was too strong. The fox never controlled the three year old.

He was gone from the room before Koharu even realized the mistake she had made.

…

Naruto inhaled deeply. He was in the bedroom given to him by the Kurama clan. He was tired, oh so tired, but he didn't dare sleep. If he slept he would dream, and dreaming was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

He exhaled slowly.

Uroko had welcomed them into their home, just like they had years ago when kaa-san brought her to the clan blessed by the Kyuubi. He remembered the time fondly. He had been so terrible at genjutsu, so terrible that it was an embarrassment to be the jinchuuriki of Kurama. Demon foxes were famous for their illusion skills, and his were non-existent. What better place to train then with the clan gifted with exceptional genjutsu power from the biiju.

He inhaled again.

He thought about that time, and tried not to let the memory of Tsunade and Kyuubi jab at him. He needed to come to terms with the fact that they were now sealed within him. They weren't really gone; they were just away for a while. Like vacation, yeah, they were on vacation… in his stomach….

He exhaled, trying not to choke on the tears that threatened to overwhelm him.

Why did it hurt so much? It felt like kunai were digging themselves into his heart and mercilessly tearing it apart. He thought he would be used to pain, used to suffering. But the feeling of losing someone you love was so much more painful than any mere physical wound.

_Inhale_

He pushed the pain, locking the feeling away deep in his mind. In a place where the crippling agony won't overwhelm him. As he did, other emotions once eclipsed by the agony came to surface. One more powerful than any other.

Rage

He exhaled in a whoosh as the force of his anger took him by surprise. He wasn't just angry, he was mad, furious, outraged, bitter, vexed… there wasn't enough words to describe how much hate he had for the people who did this. The people who did this….

_Inhale_

The Leaf village. They had been the cause for every bad thing that had ever happened in his life. His torture, his assassination, his kidnappings and now, they had forced the two people who meant the world to him to sacrifice themselves to save his miserable life.

_Exhale_

He let the rage wash over him. It numbed him in a way that made the pain bearable. The sadness was locked tightly within, and the anger coursed through his body. He remembered Kyuubi telling him about the danger of letting his anger rule him. It would allow his power to become uncontrollable. But he found that he didn't care. He wanted to be angry.

_Inhale_

That's how he will make the pain go away.

_Exhale_

He will make the ones who did this suffer

_Inhale_

He will destroy them

_Exhale_

He will destroy the Leaf village.

_Inhale_

Naruto opened his eyes and locked gazes with the Uchiha that watched him

_Exhale_

….

Hearing a bark, Kiba looked up from studying the village. He hadn't been able to make out any more unusual activity, but then again he was only a Gennin, fresh from the academy. How was he supposed to decipher movements made by ANBU? Hopefully he would be able to ask his soon to be comrades.

Akamaru trotted into view, following behind him was Shikamaru and Chouji. He would tackle these two first before getting Hinata and Shino. Once he got to the lazy genius, he figured the rest would be easier. Best to get the hard ones out the way first. Kiba stood and dusted himself off before facing the two gennin.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the Nara interrupted him.

"I am going to list some ideas that I have thought of, you can nod to say they are true or shake your head if they are false. Understand?" Kiba was completely caught off guard with the commanding tone the shadow manipulator used on him. Had he always been like this? He could only remember a lazy kid who was always napping.

"The fact you are here, alone already means that you were not actually kidnapped but left of your own free will, meaning that Sasuke wasn't kidnapped either and the new kid Naruto isn't actually what the ANBU are making him out to be."

Kiba didn't know whether to nod or not as he wasn't asked a question. And he was kinda kidnapped but they let him go and he was now helping them, so it was a lot more complex. Decided silence was the best option, the Inuzuka heir watched as Shikamaru begun pacing back and forth, Chouji happily munching on the bag of chips he had brought with him.

"First and foremost; Fang is the Kyuubi?" Shikamaru whirled to face the now stunned Kiba. He didn't wait for a response. The dumbfounded look was enough.

"Yes, which then leads me to the idea that the Kyuubi and Naruto are connected somehow?"

A hesitant nod.

"Which then means that the Fourth didn't defeat the Kyuubi and neither did Kakashi three years later?"

Another nod

"And the Leaf uses the Kyuubi as a military advantage with the other villages?"

Nod

"And the somehow with Naruto and Kyuubi is that the village used Naruto as a vessel to seal the Kyuubi?"

Kiba couldn't nod anymore and just listened, how the hell could Nara have figured all this out? He himself had to have explained to him twice before he even barely understood what half of it meant. Seeing that he wouldn't be getting a response, Shikamaru just continues with his speculation.

"Using the hatred caused by the Kyuubi attack, the village ostracized Naruto so they would have easier access to manipulate him, and in drastic cases eliminate? Naruto isn't the first person to have the Kyuubi sealed within him? There were others and this has been happening since the First Hokage? And the Leaf believed they had killed it? They left it alone until Naruto came back, and seeing his power and control over the Kyuubi, they want him back? But something went wrong? And Naruto fled with help so now the village is trying to get him back to control him? Before other villages realize he is alive and not in their control, which is why they have deployed all ANBU?"

Shikamaru whirled around to face the stunned Kiba. Even Chouji had stopped eating to listen as his best friend spoke. It was a lot to take in.

"Well, am I right?" demanded the Nara. Kiba managed to get his voice back.

"How the hell did you figure all that out?!" he exploded. Having his suspicions confirmed, Shikamaru went from intimidating and scarily smart guy, to bored and lazy gennin.

"Eh, it wasn't that hard, just had to think about things a little more than normal." He said waving the question off.

"So what did you want Kiba?" Chouji asked, munching away at his snack again. What they were talking about was way over his head, he would just follow Shikamaru. He would know what to do.

"Well, I was going to tell you all that, but you figured it all out somehow. But what I want is your help." Kiba said, scratching the back of his head. Nara's deductive skills were beyond impressive and had taken him aback.

"Help with what? From what I now understand, this has nothing to do with you or us."

"Yeah but, I need to find out the truth. Have it confirmed before me that the village really did that to a kid. That's not the type of village I thought I was fighting for. I need to know if my family was involved, my friends. I… I just need to know."

Shikamaru watched the gennin with serious eyes. He could see the turmoil he was going through, hell he himself was having the same doubts. But still…

"You realise this is treason. If the village did deem it necessary to use Naruto the way that they did, then we have no say in it. We are soldiers, not politicians, we follow orders."

"I don't care! That kid did nothing wrong, yet his life has been hell. If you heard the stuff that the Hokage let the villagers get away with… he had an assassination attempt on him when he was three! What kind of three year old deserves to be assassinated?!"

"But if it is for the good of the village, one life doesn't outweigh the many." Kiba turned and gaped at Chouji, who was looking for the last few crumbs in his chip bag, before shrugging and pulling out a new one.

"Chouji, what are you saying?" Kiba asked, even Shikamaru looked surprised at his best friend's response.

"Well, it's just that they must have had a reason to do what they did. I mean, I know it sucks and that kind of situation leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but what if they had no choice? It was sacrifice Naruto or let the Leaf get destroyed? What would you choose?"

Kiba's mouth opened and closed with no sound escaping. Chouji paused in his eating and looked seriously at the Inuzuka.

"You are suggesting that we go against our friends, family and clan over a decision that possibly saved our lives. I may not be as smart as Shikamaru, but even I can see that much."

"But – but…"

"Chouji is right Kiba. I know you like the guy, but we are not betraying the Leaf for reasons like this."

"But it's not just the sealing thing! Did you know that he was tortured before he supposed assassination? And not by ninja, by civilians! Every day they beat him up, if not for the Kyuubi in him he would have died, bleeding out in the street. And the ANBU who were meant to protect him lead him straight into mobs. How about the fact his parent died on the day he was born, so he had no one. No one cared what happened to him and encouraged his abuse. Why? Because he was chosen to save the village. He is a goddamn hero and he was treated worse than a rabid dog!"

Shikamaru and Chouji just watched as Kiba vented his rage.

"And then after his supposed successful assassination, he found someone. He found a woman who took him in and called him son. He had a family. He had peace. But then, for reasons I'm still trying to figure out, he came back. Came back to help the village, the place that had abused and tormented him for no other reason than existing. He didn't have to but he did. And what does the village do? THEY MURDER HIS FAMILY! His mother and best friend are gone and he is alone again. Not only alone, he is being hunted! If you want to stay in a village like this then fine, do as you like. But I am going to find out exactly what happened and who was involved and then I am going to help Naruto, because even after the shit he has been through, he is still fighting for us. He is still trying to save everybody."

"Kiba, listen to what you are saying!" Shikamaru said forcefully. The Inuzuka heir had never seen the Nara with so much emotion. "Yes the kid's life sucked, I get it. But do you understand what you are doing? You have known him for less than a week, met him a handful of times and are willing to throw away everyone and everything you have ever known? What are you going to do if you find out your mother or your sister had something to do with it? What if Naruto is actually trying to get his revenge and just using you? Have you even thought about this?!"

Kiba was silent. He had actually. He thought about all of it. And he didn't know what he would do if he found out his clan was involved, he didn't know what he would do if he found out he never wanted to return to the village again. But there was one thing he was certain of…

"Have you ever spoken to him?" Kiba asked quietly, a drastic change to the passionate exchange mere seconds ago. "He has this thing about him. He makes you want to believe in him. Like, if you follow him everything will be alright." Kiba smiled. "It's not even about all the crap I've found out, or the loyalty thing, it's just this feeling. Maybe it's an Inuzuka instinct, but when I was younger I used to feel like this with my mother. I knew she was safe, and now, now that feeling is with Naruto."

"So you are perfectly willing to not only go against your home village, but destroy it?" Shikamaru shot back. "You realize that more than likely, Naruto will want revenge for what happened to him? Which means he will try and crush the Leaf. And you know that no one here will ever stand for that. You will end up fighting your family."

"It won't come to that! Naruto would never hurt someone willingly. Heck, he has every right to march in here and kill everyone, but the amazing thing is that he won't. He is better than that. He is better than us. He refuses to stoop to level of those who made him suffer."

"I don't get you Kiba" Chouji interrupted. Shikamaru and Kiba turned, having forgotten the Akamichi was there at all in their heated argument.

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked angrily.

"Well, you're an Inuzuka right? Don't you have this major loyalty thing?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, you've said all your reasons and stuff, and I don't get half of it actually. But what I think it comes down to is: are you throwing away your loyalty to your clan and village for this kid? Isn't that a taboo among your family?"

"It's more complicated than that-"

"Chouji is right." Shikamaru said suddenly. Kiba looked at him. "Tell me now. Is this Naruto guy worth following, even if it means you will never be welcome in this village ever again?"

Kiba was struck dumb. The Nara's words shadowed those of Terra so closely it was frightening. But that didn't matter; he had already decided his answer.

"Yes." He said firmly, so sign of hesitation in his voice whatsoever.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed.

"So you will help?" Kiba asked, he wouldn't admit it but he was cautious. From the conversation alone, he could tell the Nara could be a formidable enemy. He would rather him on his side rather than against him.

"Yes, but not for the reason you want." Shikamaru said finally, after being silent for almost a whole minute.

"What other reasons are there?"

"Naruto basically controls the balance of power right now. If the other villages were to discover that the Kyuubi was no longer in our possession, war would almost certainly break out. If I go along with you I will be able to acquire more data that will allow me to make a more informed decision. As of right now I don't have all the facts, just what you have confirmed and my own half-baked theories. Plus if I decided I am going to act against you, I will more than likely have been around you long enough to know your weaknesses as well as gain valuable information on the target for the village. Knowing this, do you still want my help?"

The gennin was not to be underestimated, Kiba realised. He was no enemy but he was no ally. But the shadow user will be surprised, Kiba had a few tricks up his sleeve yet.

"Ok. I understand. Chouji, what do you want to do?"

"I'm with Shikamaru. Whatever he decides I'll go along with." The happy-go-lucky ninja said with a careless shrug of his shoulders. Shikamaru was always right and so he would always follow his friend.

"Right, then here's what we need to do."


End file.
